Awakening of Time
by Overlord Valkyrie
Summary: Being stuck in one place is what Lillian Adamant hated most. She dreams of venturing the world, but what she didn't expect was that her first time to go to another city involved the near death of her best friend. Her life gets turned over for the worse when she joins Emil and Marta on their quest. But her appearance had only set a new fate to occur. Emil/RatatoskxOC
1. Archízo

**-x-**

_Long, long ago. In the distant past, the world lived in harmony. These countries lived coexist together in peace and harmony, cooperating together, working together, and were friends with one another. They lived in such harmony that bountiful lands flourished beautifully, flora, fauna, and monsters alike worked in such harmony it was considered beautiful._

_Both countries were cared and loved for by the Great Kharlan Tree, the essence of all life. In return, the creatures roaming the land loved and cared for the tree in return. The Great Kharlan Tree was protected by the Great Summon Spirit named Ratatoskr, who was known as the 'Messenger'. He and his loyal guardians, the Centurions, brought about peace and balance to the world's mana._

_Time flowed on and everyone lived in unity._

…

_But that time soon had to come into an end._

_On a dark grim day, the King of one of the two largest countries was hungry for power and strived for territory due to the growing population. He planned an invasion to the other large country and with technology that used mana as power source, a war broke out._

_That war was known as the Kharlan War._

_The technology used, known as Magi-tech, quickly depleted world's supply of mana provided by the tree. Used by each and every country, developing more and more machines to have an upper hand. However, they failed to realize how the Great Tree was affected. Slowly, the Kharlan Tree withered away by the stress of mana being forcefully used._

_Ratatoskr had grown furious on how they had took his tree for granted but his anger was quelled and restrained by the wind of the Northern Sky, leaving him with no choice but to aid a group of travelers who strived to stop the war._

_With the power of the Heroes, the thousand year war was stopped. But the tree had withered away and had only left a single seed in its stead. Because of that, Ratatoskr and his guardians had fallen into a deep slumber until the tree would reawaken again._

_By the will of the heavens, the world was cleaved into two. _

_But soon…a greater tragedy struck._

_Many years later, the Chosen of Regeneration and her loyal warrior planted a new World Tree in replace of the withered Kharlan Tree. The birth of a brand new World Tree brought about the unification of the Sylvarant and Tethe'alla._

_The world was reborn as one, once again._

_The world seemed to light up as the dawn of the brand new era was born._

…

_Or so it seemed…_

…

…

_What is a lie and what is not a lie. _

_No one will know. _

_As the tales of the history were changed and changed constantly._

_Then,_

_What is true?_

_What is a lie?_

_Or maybe…_

_**-x-**_

**Chapter one: Archízo̱ **

**-x-**

The wind howled endlessly.

The townspeople of Asgard quickly fled to their respective homes which were upgraded to now withstand the harsh winds. The town was empty and bare as they waited for the winds to die down, there had been many incidents of people being swept off and carried away because the winds were too strong for them. Wind was a normal thing in Asgard, it's home to the Summon Spirit, Sylph whose domain was the wind itself.

But ever since two years ago, the wind had been much more stronger, more…_chaotic _than before. No one knew the reason, some blamed the Chosen of Regeneration while others believed that they had angered the Summon Spirit for not performing the ritual seriously.

Fear ruled the people of Aselia, fearing the unknown and fearing the feared. Sometimes, their own fear was overruled by their ugly green jealousy. Like how the half-elves were treated like dirt for being humans with magical abilities. For elves, they were polluted with human blood. For humans, they were disgusting humans who were able to do something they couldn't. Now instead of half-elves, it was the Sylveranti that was treated lower than dirt.

The wind continued blowing harshly, but that has never stopped a single person from going out during those days.

A honey-brown haired girl was sitting atop of a cliff in the outskirts of the city. Her long, dense honey-brown hair was tied into a low ponytail so that it wouldn't be a hassle when it would smack her in the face. She was dressed in her usual outfit meant for outdoor activities, a white vest-like sleeveless shirt that showed her midriff with a small dark blue necktie and twin tails in the front and back, navy blue shorts, thigh socks that had an armor around the top and shoes. Plus, a pair of detached sleeves and midnight blue hooded caplet made by Bell herself for her fourteen birthday.

It wasn't something that normal girls would wear from Asgard, the fabric itself symbolized that it came from a Tethe'allan city.

The girl was writing something inside a leather brown notebook with a brown tie, she ignored the wind as it noisily howled. Her best friend, Bell had been pleading her constantly to never leave the house when the wind would grow too strong but did she listen?

Nope.

There wasn't a day where she would stay in the house for half an hour, she couldn't stand being inside. She knew that outside like it was the back of her hand.

Right now, she was doodling in her notebook. Doodling her necklace to be exact.

A red orb was dangling from her neck, it was originally some weird stone but now it became a necklace on her first birthday. It was now a special thing to her and she can't afford to lose it, it was a really special memento of her late mother.

A sighed escaped her mouth, resting her chin on her hand as she stopped her doodles. "…Today is a boring day." She stared aimlessly at the white fluffy clouds fluttering by.

There was nothing interesting happening these days aside from the growing tension between Sylvaranti and Tethe'allans, the Tethe'allans looked down upon the Sylvaranti and treated them like they would towards half-elves. It was all because the Tethe'allans were much advanced than the Sylvaranti and believed them to be barbarians with their way of living. Because it was the Chosen of Regeneration who brought the worlds together, they instantly blamed her for the chaos.

And now, with all the strange phenomena occurring throughout the world, their anger towards the Chosen increased even more which led to them turning their backs against the Church of Martel. The tension was high enough to spark a war.

Lillian fell back against the soft patch of grass, one of the patches that weren't stony. She inhaled and exhaled loudly, feeling the wind ticking her skin and teasing her hair lightly. Her midnight blue eyes didn't leave the skies, staring into the unknown above the clouds itself.

The Church of Martel. It was rare to see people turn their backs—especially the Sylvaranti who were so reliant on the Chosen and the Goddess called Martel. Her father hardly talked about the Church of Martel as fondly as the Priests or the people would, she could remember him just patting her head with a smile saying it was nothing important for her to know. She didn't press the matter but still, she had to wonder why.

It was a religion, a large one. And she wasn't taught about it aside from strangers preaching and giving lectures about it. The Goddess Martel who sleeps in the center of the world and the Chosen can be the only one who can awaken her, to defeat the Desians and bring prosperity to the world again.

She relaxed for a moment, closing her eyes to listen to the wind whistling.

"_LADY LILLIAN!"_

Her eyes snapped open in shock as she scrambled up, her hair disheveled slightly. She stared down with wide eyes before relaxing upon realizing who it was, her eyes immediately lowered in annoyance and irritation.

It was her guardian, or what he likes to be called as, a steward. He was a large wolf-like creature with white fur that slowly gradients into ash gray color making it look ashen, tribal tattoos were etched most across his snout and forehead with one curling towards his left eye. The tattoos reached down to his paws, some were on his furry tail. Two azure earrings pieced the tips of his ears.

The people of Asgard, before, disliked the idea of having him in the city since he was large enough for Lillian to ride and looked like a monster but after showing his abilities of driving off monsters from the city he was immediately accepted as one of the guards who would often patrol every day.

He had been her own guardian ever since she was a baby, he was like a brother to her.

"Ash…" She grumbled out, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How did you find me?"

His tail flicked to the side, "I have witness your growth from the day you were conceived, you are a book to me." He gestured to the city which was down the path with his snout, "Return back to Asgard at once, Bell has been fretting about you for the past two hours."

"And go home? As if." She snorted.

"Lady Lillian, stop being stubborn and get down from that cliff."

She gestured to her ear, "I can't hear you, I'm too busy not caring."

He sighed audibly. "I have no choice then."

There was a flash. Ash's grew slanted resembling a cat's eye as it glowed a silvery hue. Lillian was about to rest back against the soft patch of grass until she felt her body automatically go rigid and stiff. Her eyes widened at the feeling of being levitated from the ground, she growled audibly.

"Here we go again." She grumbled, bracing herself when she was pulled away from the cliff and was automatically dropped. She fell down the cliff, her eyes wide with horror as she shrieked so loudly that the people of Luin could faintly hear the shrieking of a girl falling to her death.

She screamed bloody murder as she fell down meters below, her body felt light and her stomach churned.

She screwed her eyes shut and was prepared on turning into pancake but the sensation never came, the feeling of falling seemed to have stopped suddenly. She peered through her lashes to see that she was levitating inches from the ground. Without a warning, she was dropped on the floor with a harsh thud. Ash trotted up to the girl with his tail swishing to the side.

"All those teachings I've implemented always come out your other ear." He sighed, trotting over to the girl and hoisting her up using the back of her shirt.

Before she could reply, the wind blew hard against her hair causing it to be much frizzier than before. She scowled at the whole situation before trudging up the path to Asgard wordlessly, Ash just watched her amusedly before trotting after the girl.

"Not one word from you." She warned,

Ash chuckled, "I apologize, Lady Lillian. Come, Bell is awaiting for your return."

Lillian growled in the back of her throat and was ready to try maiming him if possible. Keyword, _try_. The last time she tried to maim him, she ended up resting on the bed with Bell tending to her wounds scattered around her body.

It took her a few minutes to reach Asgard, the winds had died down a bit to the point where children were allowed to play outside with supervision. The winds were considered a strange phenomenon and people were still investigating the stone dais for any strange objects or anything like that. Ash told her that there was something amiss with the wind but they really couldn't investigate properly with everyone practically breathing down her neck.

She fixed her hair along the way. She walked towards her home in the Northern part of Asgard in the Residential area where her friends lived in, it was a simple one-story home with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and one room dedicated to her father's studies. Most of her books and research were in there.

"LILY!"

She was suddenly attacked into a tight hug, her face smothered by a short blonde haired girl wearing a green beret. She felt like she was suffocating from the hold as the person held her tightly, to the point her face could probably turn blue.

"Are you hurt? Are you okay? DID YOU GET BRAIN DAMAGE?!" She shouted, shaking the poor honey-brown haired girl. Her eyes were beginning to water up from the thought of her having some dangerous disease or that she broke an arm or leg.

Lillian coughed before choking a laugh, the blonde haired girl turned hysterical. "OH NO! DID _I_ GIVE YOU BRAIN DAMAGE?! THE HEALER IS AT LUIN! LET'S GO!"

This was a typical thing with her best friend, Bell. She was a very flighty girl, she too cheerful sometimes and quite ditzy. Lillian blamed her father for being too overprotective with this girl. She was cute too, which is why she was happy about hearing the engagement between her best friend and her other best friend, Elliot.

It was pretty hilarious with Elliot, especially when he's very serious, smart and a _dork_. He was right now at the Imperial Research Academy, he admired Lillian's father and his research so now he was over at the Academy studying about something she didn't pay attention to and researching more about the past since he and her father believed there was more to the story of Mithos the Hero than meets the eye. Of course, no one paid attention since they believed they were out of their minds.

"Calm down, Bell. I'm perfectly fine, I promise." She sighed, trying to claw out of her grasp.

Bell had watery eyes before it suddenly vanished, her smile replacing her teary look. "That's great! Phew, I thought you might have broken something!" She laughed loudly, Lillian just deadpanned at the blonde. She had short, curled blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in a simple white dress with an orange cotton vest with a green bag.

She turned to the ashen wolf and patted his head, "Thanks for bringing her back, Ashie."

"It's my pleasure." He bowed his head, "So, I've heard from my Lady that you are heading off to Palmacosta?"

Bell blinked for a moment before clapping her hands together with a smile, "Oh yeah! My auntie from Palmacosta called me over, I'm heading off today in a few minutes! Don't you remember, Lily?" She beamed at the honey-brown girl who shrugged.

"I…uh, I wanted…to, uh, see…you off at the cliff! But Ash _had_ to forcefully drag me back!" She instantly made up and glared at Ash for effect, Ash didn't believe a single word while Bell tackled her friends into a hug and was ready to burst into tears.

"You're such a good friend! I'm so happy we're best friends!" She dramatically cried before pulling away, rubbing her green eyes. "But I'll even be more happy if you had more friends, Lily. It'll be sad once I get married and you're going to be alone." At that she instantly burst into tears again.

Lillian rolled her eyes and patted her friend's head, "Sheesh, no need to get dramatic, Bell. I'm okay! I have Ash to be by my side, you see." She patted the wolf for emphasis. Ash replied by his tail wagging slightly.

Bell paused and hesitantly nodded her head, "I guess you're right…" She sniffed before smiling slightly, "Would you like anything from Palmacosta? I know you practically have the whole collection of history books provided by your father but do you need anything? Some new clothes maybe?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, it's fine. If you really want to buy me a gift then I trust whatever you'll pick, I'll love it."

Bell frowned slightly, "Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure. You made me that collection of cute dolls which are still in the shelves so I really think whatever you pick it's perfect." She gave a toothy smile,

Before her best friend could respond, a call was heard from the distance. All three of them turned to see a man waving at the group with a smile, a wagon was prepared for them with tamed monsters pulling the wagon. There were a group of people going inside and placing their bags inside the wagon, Bell's eyes widened as she quickly pulled Lillian towards the wagon with Ash trotting behind them.

"Hey there! Oh, hey Little Lady and Ash. Are you seeing Bell off?" He smiled at the other two.

Lillian nodded her head, "Well, I'm worried that Bell might not last in Palmacosta if her Aunt isn't waiting for her, knowing her." She gestured to the blonde who was happily chatting with elderly people, her giggles clear as day.

The man laughed, "Well, you're right there! At least when she settles down, it might teacher her some responsibilities as a wedded woman."

"But for sure if they'll have kids, she'll be the best mom out there."

An elderly villager came towards Lillian with a smile. The woman was dressed in normal village clothing but with a brown hat and a shawl. "Will you be all right by yourself, Miss Lily? Do want my granddaughter to stop by and cook you dinner?"

"No, no. It's fine, I can live."

"How about I'll let my husband send you some blankets to replace your old ones?" Another villager said.

"It's fine, it's fine!"

"My wife and daughter can send you some fresh vegetables and fruits for you to eat!"

Lillian looked around for an escape from the crowd that was starting to form around her, "…Crap, I'm trapped." She muttered in horror.

The driver laughed at her, patting her back causing her to stumble. "Well, your father entrusted us to you. I wonder how his research is coming along—that guy always thought big." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

She paused for a moment, tapping her chin. "How long does it take to head to Palmacosta?"

"Hmm… a week and a half at most, it depends on our stops. If we were cautious about reaching there then it would take at least two weeks or so."

She crossed her arms and huffed angrily, "Ugh, I want to go too. But all I'm allowed to go is only Luin." She raised her hands and waved them around, "You can't go anywhere without supervision, Lillian. It's too dangerous. Stay here or visit Luin while I'll have fun and travel around the united worlds." She pretended to be her father, waving her hands around with emphasis.

The man snorted, finding amusement in her words. "But I agree, you can't go without supervision. Ah…looks like we're about done 'ere." He noted, seeing that everyone was finally packed up and inside the wagon chatting animatedly.

A blur of white, orange, and blonde came ramming straight onto her. "I'm going now, Lily! Take care of yourself, okay?" She looked up, actually sober for once. Her green eyes darted to Ash, "Ashie, take care of Lily while I'm away, okay?"

Lillian playfully pushed her, "How about you, are you safe without anyone?"

She giggled and showed her right hand, showing the silvery ring on her middle finger. "Yes, I have your father's gift!"

The ring was her birthday gift when she was eight, Bell had a nasty habit for getting in trouble so her father forged a ring which was enhanced with Ash's magic. It would automatically send a distress signal to Ash when her life was at the line, it was pretty useful. Unlike Lillian, Ash can't automatically tell if someone is danger unless they're equipped with his protection. Lillian already had Ash's protection since she was his mistress.

Ash's magical capability was vast, but he was sworn by Lillian that he would never use his powers unless Lillian would command so. And because Ash's loyalty was sworn to Lillian, he could never disobey the terms of a vow.

She sighed, giving a slight smile. "You better take care of yourself, you hear? You don't want Elliot to rant again about putting yourself in danger and not taking care of yourself properly."

Bell grinned, "Hehe, I promise." She gave one last hug before heading inside the wagon. She spared once last glance and a wave before she entered inside.

The driver patted her head, "Take care of yourself, little lady." He winked, ruffling her head one last time before leaving to the wagon. He prepared the monsters before hopping onto the driver's seat, there were only a few monsters that were able to be tamed normally.

She stared at the wagon, Bell was still waving happily. Her lips quirked up a little, the wind began picking up its speed causing her hair to dance along with the wind. She raised a hand and waved slightly to Bell as the wagon began moving, heading towards the entrance and exit of Asgard. She watched as the wagon slowly disappeared as it headed down the trail and towards the direction of Hakonesia Peak.

Turning towards the stairs, she wondered briefly if she should visit the Stone Dais again. Linar and Harley were probably investigating the Stone Dais again and the strange winds that have been happening for the past two years.

"Say, Ashie. Wanna visit Aisha and the others?"

Ash paused before bowing politely, "If that is what you wish."

_**-x-**_

"WATCH WHERE'RE YOU'RE WAVING THAT THING!" Shouted Harley as he ducked down for his dear life, his eyes were wide with horror and fright at the sight of the metal thing being swung around.

Linar hit the floor as the heavy blade came swinging above his head, his eyes darted to the girl who was having a hard time holding a heavy spear which was found in the Asgard Ruin—the Stone Dais. They weren't really allowed here but curiosity took the best of them and they managed to jump onto the Stone Dais and started investigating like little ants. Lillian was holding a thick, heavy spear and tried to test it out but she ended up realizing that the looks completely lied to her.

Lillian grinned to herself but that grin immediately turned into a large 'o' that resembled a watermelon when the spear slipped out of her grasp and came crashing to the dais with a loud clatter.

There a moment of silence between the three of them until Lillian shrugged, "Well, at least I got rid of it."

Harley immediately glared at her, "Stupid girl! Watch what you're doing!" He smacked her harshly causing her to glare back and smack him herself.

Linar sighed between the two and went to pick the spear up, he stumbled slightly and went to put the spear to the side for later. When he turned, Harley was pinching and pulling on Lillian's cheeks while the said girl was screaming a profanity of not nice words at him. The next thing Harley knew, he was kicked in the shin causing him to hop up and down while holding his shin.

Linar sighed, "Will you ever get along?"

The red haired half-elf looked offended, "_She _started it!"

"Wow, act your age, Harley. You're supposed to older than me." She snorted, crossing her arms. Her expression was the usual non-expression face. Harley just glared at her and limped away from the shorter girl before anything worse could happen to his well-being.

It's been three weeks since Bell had left Asgard leaving Lillian temporarily under the care of Aisha, Linar, and Harley who visited her, providing company and yummy food for her every lunch and dinner time. She didn't expect Harley to appear in front of her door holding a plate with an annoyed look and practically forced her to eat it and of course, gave Ash some as well.

Harley glared before turning to his friend, "Aside from the spear, what else did we find out?"

Linar mulled this over for a moment, staring at the Stone Dais. "Nothing really, the Chosen already destroyed the monster two years ago…" He began, rubbing his chin for emphasis of his thoughts. Linar approached the two, "What do you think?"

She paused for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed together. "I think I'm hungry."

As if on cue, both boys pressed their hands to their foreheads. Harley rolled his eyes, "As always, you have an enormous appetite, I'm worried you might explode." He commented, staring at her body. "I wonder how you manage to keep your figure instead of gaining weight."

The honey-brown girl wrinkled her nose, "Ew, Harley. Were you checking me out?"

Harley immediately spluttered out a reply with his cheeks turning red rather quickly. Linar had to crack a grin, he chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Asgard's never boring with you here, Lily."

She smirked to herself, "I'm that awesome."

The half-elf was still red but he glared at her, "Can you at least act like a normal sixteen year old girl?"

"Hmmm…I guess not. It doesn't run in my blood." She said cheerfully.

"By the way, where's Ash?" The blue haired man wondered out loudly, looking at the sky as it was slowly turning in a golden yellow color. It was already late afternoon and he expected that he would pop in out of nowhere and pick up Lillian as usual, it was already known that he was her guardian and practically family for her.

Lillian looked thoughtful, looking over to the entrance. "He's patrolling, he's coming back late evening or something." She shrugged, "I told him I'll be at your house in the evening and go home by myself so he could patrol in every area."

"Oh, I see…" He trailed away.

The honey-brown haired girl pondered for a moment before moving to the center of the Dais where she looked around, "Since I'll be bored inside houses, let's continue investigating. Your sister does the rituals here, waving that staff around, right? Why isn't more with the dancing instead of waving that thing around?" She pantomimed Aisha, waving her arms around as if she was holding the staff. "It's more ritual-y if they would do dancing."

"It isn't like other rituals, Lily." Harley said, "The Maiden Ritual is much easier than the others, the Summon Spirit Dancer would only just wave that wand around in a practiced form but it shows off elegance which that clothes." He seemed to smile at that thought of the clothes.

Lillian wrinkled her nose again, "Linar! Harley's having fetish fantasies about Aisha again." She called, turning to Linar.

Harley turned beet red again before storming towards the shorter girl, "That's it!" He barked angrily, ready to commit murder.

She laughed loudly, dodging Harley and practically danced around him. She stuck out her tongue, "_Na-na-nena-na!_" She said childishly which of course, sparked his temper as he came charging at her like a mad animal—er, monster.

"_HARLEY!_"

Everyone froze and turned to see a blue haired woman standing on the stairs with a displeased looked, her arms were crossed and her eyes were narrowed. It was Aisha.

"Aisha…?" Harley muttered out in disbelief.

"What did I tell you about bullying Lily like that? Her father asked us—everyone in Asgard, to take care of her while he was away! Imagine what he'll think if you're doing this to Lily?!" She barked, Harley spluttered out an excuse while Lillian just snickered to herself, Aisha was just like any older sister to her.

"Love ya, Aisha!" She hopped over to the older girl with a bright smile.

Aisha returned the smile, "Thank you, Lily. I made some snacks and tea, would you like some?"

"Snacks by Aisha, I wouldn't want to miss that."

"How about you, boys?"

Harley mumbled out a reply while Linar nodded with a smile and joined Lillian as they both raced downstairs—mostly Lillian racing Linar as he tried to catch up with the speedy girl. Aisha glanced at Harley who was trudging down the dais while muttering some words, she shook her head at him.

"You're such a child."

Harley frowned, "Me? That girl over there is a walking nightmare!"

They turned to look at Lillian who took another step down but lost her footing causing her to topple down and fall onto the ground face-first. Linar immediately jumped down and immediately helped her up. Aisha turned to Harley.

"She's truly frightening."

"S-She is!"

"Sometimes you worry me, Harley."

The day continued with the four of them inside Aisha's house, Harley was having a passionate moment and talking about the nasty rumors about Lloyd terrorizing cities that turned their backs on the Church of Martel. Lillian was sitting on the ground munching on a cookie, staring at him thoughtfully as he paced around the room with a cookie as well.

"I have met Lloyd personally, he would never do something like this. It must be some misunderstanding." He sighed, shaking his head.

Lillian tilted her head, "Maybe he encountered something life changing and decided to go for the dark side, they might have cookies."

Harley shot her a look. Lillian shrugged, "Just saying. But he seems like a nice person, he won't do anything wrong—plus, he broke something in my house and made up for it by giving me a recent creation made out of gels and other material. It's really pretty too."

"I'll never understand them."

"It's like how we'll never understand how people fight over other people's opinions."

"For once, I agree with you."

Lillian glanced to the window, noticing the sun was down. "Well then, I'm going to head off on home by myself." She stood up and stretched, "Thanks for having me over today."

Aisha smiled, "It's no problem, Lily. Would you like Harley or Linar to bring you home?"

"Nah, I'm fine. I can handle myself." She beamed at them, "Thanks for worrying, Aisha."

They all waved goodbye—Harley a bit grudgingly, as Lillian left the house. She closed the door behind her, the wind instantly howled softly against her ears and caressed her whole body with such gentleness from two years ago. Lillian shivered at the cool air and looked up at the sky, the sky was slightly dark but with an orange-red color from the distance. She wondered if Ash was looking at the sky right now, he was easily distracted by things like this.

She wondered if Bell was going home anytime soon, either that—she might send a letter about an extension at her stay in Palmacosta.

Lillian began her trek back home. She began thinking about the words that Harley had said to her before, Lloyd Irving was terrorizing cities for turning their backs against the Church of Martel. When he visited Asgard, he didn't seem to be _that _religious with Martel. He was just there, helping his best friend who happened to be the Chosen of Regeneration. Her father told her that she shouldn't care much about what the Church did or not, she shouldn't meddle with things she wasn't supposed to.

She grew up to be a curious girl, often joining Linar and Harley when they would do investigations anywhere. She would read up on their researches and sometimes make her own observations, having a father who happened to be a professor and researcher grew her love for having her own adventure. But she was never allowed to leave Asgard, she couldn't even visit Hima again. It's practically been _years_ since she last visited a town.

She's been to Hima once but that was a long time ago.

Her father just wouldn't allow her to go anywhere now by herself.

She often hoped for a chance to visit a place, Ash has been to Palmacosta to accompany Elliot once under her request. Ash was able to go to any town he wished if he registered the area in order for him to teleport easily. But he didn't use teleportation unless it was important.

Halfway to her home, she noticed an ashen fur wolf galloping towards her. She grinned happily and raised a hand, "Hey, Ash—!" The large wolf came to a stop in front of her, lowering himself.

"Get on."

"Huh?"

"Get on, Lady Lillian. _Now._"

Lillian flinched slightly but reluctantly got onto his back, he suddenly charged causing her to yelp in shock and gripped tightly on his soft fur. "A-A-Ash?!" She cried out as everything started to glow brightly around her. A runic circle swirled below him as he ran towards the exit of Asgard. Golden particles glowed around them like fireflies in the dark night sky.

"Ash, what's going on?! Where are we going?"

He looked forward, "Palmacosta."

"Wha—?! But that'll take weeks!"

"On foot, that is correct. But we are going to teleport."

"Teleport?! Ash, what is going _on_?!"She demanded holding tightly onto his fur. He was running so fast and she couldn't process what was going on and why it was so urgent for her to come along as well.

He was silent, "Bell…her life is danger." His eyes flashed bright silver, a strange image seemed to flash through his eyes for a moment. "I am sensing a disturbance in the city of Palmacosta. A strong source of concentrated mana is pulsating from the city itself, I do not know if it's the reason for Bell's life in danger."

Lillian felt her blood run cold, she held onto his fur even tighter. "Bell…" She whispered, feeling her hairs stand followed by a wave of goose bumps. It was only a few weeks and her life was in danger? She wasn't there to protect her and Elliot was all the way in Sybak. She prayed that her outstanding luck would let her live until she could reach her.

"Hurry, Ash!"

"As you wish."

Lighting crackled around them, a strong burst of light shined down onto them. She screwed her eyes shut, blinded by the powerful light but cool warmth encased her body like a comfortable hug. She peered slowly through her lashes, her eyes widened when she realized where they were. They were surrounded in a white abyss with golden specks dancing around. She was always amazed when Ash would use his magic, it was unlike elvish magic that she would see when they would fight or just show off.

Ash's was beautiful, it would sometimes look like tiny fairies giggling and dancing around. But sometimes, it was so powerful it could practically destroy Asgard. Thankfully, it was sealed through his earrings on the tip of his ears.

The white abyss broke away, unfurling itself like petals being blown away by the wind. She could see the dark plains from the illumination of the moons upon the grassy ground, dirt kicked up behind as they ran through the cobble ground. When she regained her vision her eyes immediately widened as a terrified gasp came from her.

Palmacosta was in flames.

She gaped at the sight, her body went rigid as it trembled. Her grip on his fur tightened so much her hands turned white.

"ASH! HURRY!" She shouted through her shock, she felt a lump forming in her throat at the smell of scorched wood. She could smell the burning bodies in the city, they were near water but it wasn't enough to save the people from the fires.

The flames were high, licking the skies with its smoke covering the beautiful night sky. She could hardly see above Palmacosta or the stars, she saw a few people escaping and some riding on carriages that managed to survive. But it was only a few.

She could hear screams of innocent people being slaughtered as they grew closer and closer to the flaming city. She stumbled forward when Ash leaped over a large fallen log, she gritted her teeth at hearing more and more screams from the people. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the crying from the people escaping.

When she entered the city, she wanted to cover her eyes and her nose from the smell. It was sickening, the black, thick smoke make her eyes water. How much fire was there? Palmacosta was a big, major city and fire couldn't spread this fast.

Her heart clenched the sight of bodies that littered the grounds. Some were maimed, stabbed, or charred black. People were leaning against the walls, women, men, and children. Some soldiers she identified as the Vanguard and the Knights of Martel were part of those who had died. Blood was smeared on the walls and ground, some had weapons sticking out from her torso and even from their heads.

Was there a war? Between the Knights of Martel and the Vanguard she heard about?

Her stomach churned, she felt like she was going to throw up at the smell.

They reached the fountain in Palmacosta, she hopped off of Ash went he lowered himself. Thankfully, the water fountain was at one piece and bodies didn't liter around the concrete floor. Her hands felt sweaty and cold, she tried to wipe them using her shorts.

"Do you sense her?" Her senses were high as she watched the fire spread and grow thicker by the second. Thankfully it wasn't overwhelming but it was spreading fast. This was the first time in her life to witness something like this.

Ash sniffed the air, cringing slightly. "The air is too thick with acrid smoke, I can't even get a trace of her scent."

"Dammit…" She muttered to herself.

Out of nowhere, a soldier from the Church of Martel came towards her from the side with a gurgling battle cry. He held his sword into the air, she froze from the spot unable to move. Fear took ahold of her legs as he saw the murder in that man's eyes. Before the soldier could even graze her, a ball of fur bolted towards the soldier with an animalistic growl.

Goosebumps prickled her skin, Ash had torn out his throat. He turned to his mistress, "Are you all right, Lady Lillian?" He asked.

The girl felt numb but she managed to nod slightly. A person just died in front of her, a _person just died in front of her_. A person _**died.**_She found herself trembling uncontrollably, her knees buckled underneath her and nearly fell to the ground in shock.

"Lady Lillian!" Ash had caught her before she hit the ground.

She snapped her head up, blinking for a moment. She didn't even realize she wasn't listening, she shook her head. "I…I'm fine…I just…"

Words died in her throat. This was her first time seeing a human die in front of her and Ash understood how she felt, Lillian wasn't too keen about death despite reading so much warfare books. Sure, she wielded a sword and killed monsters herself but this was the first time she saw humans die.

He nudged her, "We must hurry, Bell might still be in Palmacosta."

"R…Right!"

Lillian ran with the help of Ash right by her side, they both darted together through the city that continued to echo with screams and crashes. She didn't know where Bell was or if she was alright, Ash couldn't tell either since the ring she wore can only tell if she's in danger or not. She felt scared—what if she was injured somewhere?

She ran faster, Ash had to pick up his pace as they dashed through the path. Debris fell from time to time causing Lillian to dodge or jump over the fallen charred wooden beams. Ash heard the clinking of metal against metal causing him to freeze instantly and pull Lillian back using her sleeves.

"Wha—Ash?" She whispered harshly, glaring at the wolf for a moment when he forcibly pushed her against the wall using his body.

"Quiet, there are soldiers coming." He whispered with his ears twitching to and fro.

Peering behind the corner, she saw the soldiers chasing after a girl with white flower accessories on her head. She was a lean girl, around sixteen with long maple hair. The girl was holding something tightly to her chest, something that sparkled red.

"There she is!" One cried,

"Seize her, I'll follow Lloyd."

The girl's eyes widened before she quickly bolted away, a group of soldiers hot on her trail. Lillian bit her lip, hating the horrible feeling of being useless for someone else who was in danger. If she were to charge in straight, Ash would clearly stop her and cause them to show their position.

"…Wait, Lloyd is here?" She wondered out softly, remembering what the soldier had said.

He sniffed the air, "I can sense a powerful aura but I can't exactly pinpoint the location."

The honey-brown haired girl pursed her lips in thought. That was a bad thing. Would that mean that there was a powerful creature rampaging or humans with powerful abilities? Or maybe was it Lloyd Irving himself? He _was _the one who helped the Chosen of Regeneration around the world.

"There's a girl over there!" Someone shouted, there was a group of clinking metal echoing in the distance.

Lillian cursed darkly before she quickly looked around for an escape. She noticed an alleyway, maybe a shortcut and hopefully not a dead-end. She hoped she made a right choice and ran towards that alleyway. Ash followed as well but he stopped near the entrance and growled protectively. Hearing him growl caused her to whirl around only to see Ash growling at the incoming enemies that grew closer and closer.

"Go. Find Bell and make sure you stay out of sight, I will handle this."

"But…"

"GO!"

Lillian hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly ran away, she bit back the feeling of dread for her partner. There were a lot of soldiers and Ash was just one giant wolf, she wasn't sure if he could handle such numbers without his full power. Without Ash, how could she escape once she found Bell? Palmacosta was in shambles and soldiers were practically storming its way through the city spreading bloodshed and hate.

She unconsciously brought her hand to her pendant and she clutched it tightly, "…Mom…please help me." She pleaded.

Her mom died when she was young but she had always been her source of confidence. She suddenly remembered her conversation in Aisha's house, Harley said that Lloyd was rampaging in different cities and towns because they were against the Church of Martel. Palmacosta was home to the Vanguard and the Vanguard was against Tethe'alla, were they against the Church of Martel too? She didn't know what was happening and only heard it through the words of the people of Asgard.

It made her think. Did Lloyd suddenly found powerful faith in Goddess Martel?

Lillian found herself in the main road, she looked around when she realized she was already lost. She stopped to catch her breath, looking around for a moment. "Bell?!" She shouted, turning around. "Bell, where are you?!"

It was silent except for the fire crackling around her, the noises of screams of agony were gone. They were all gone.

Nothing.

She could hear nothing. The silence was so deafening she wanted to cover her ears to shut out the noise, the noise that plunged her heart into despair. Her stomach churned in various directions, her emotions were jumbled together, she could only think of the worse thing possible to everything and to everyone in Palmacosta. Hundreds of people were dead and she didn't even know if her best friend was one of them. Her eyes watered, her throat felt tight at that thought.

She looked around, "Bell!" She screamed, "Bell, please! Answer me! BELL!"

Nothing…absolutely nothing.

"BELL!" Her voice cracked, she hugged herself. A sob escaped her throat as she bend over, tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. "…Bell…"

"Hmph, seems that there's another survivor in this hell."

She inhaled sharply, turning around to the roof of the building to see a man standing there holding a sword. He had dark charcoal hair and golden eyes that looked like they were glowing in the night sky. The metal blade glared at her from the light of the fire, red liquid coated the blade and dripped quietly. His eyes were cold, shining back from the fire that burned in the distance. Lillian stepped back.

"N-No…" She shook her head,

It was a commander from the Church of Martel.

"Hmm…interesting, you're a Tethe'allan, are you not? I thought Tethe'allans avoided the Sylveranti cities like this." He murmured then shook his head, "No matter, under the command of Lloyd the Great—we are here to vanquish the evil known as the Vanguard."

She was too stunned to do anything, the man just took once glance at her before hopping down. His sword was broad but sharp, a leather wrapped around the handle. He pointed the sword towards her, "Young one, rejoice. I will not harm you unless you tell me…who are you?"

Lillian swallowed her fear and mustered her courage to glare at him, "…Who are you to demand my name?" She hissed.

He raised an eyebrow questionably at her, before he chuckled. "What an arrogant line. No matter, I am Leonidas, Commander of the Combat Squad of the Church of Martel. Under the command of Lloyd the Great, the people of Palmacosta and the Vanguard are hereby guilty of crimes of blaspheme and heresy. The sentence…is death."

She spluttered for a moment, "That's just—?! Isn't that cruel?! I thought the Church of Martel promotes 'peace' and 'unity' or whatever you religious freaks blabber about!"

Something shiny came flying towards her and whipped past her cheek. She slowly turned to see a dagger piercing a stack of wooden crates behind her, a cut slowly appeared on her cheek causing blood to trickle down. Leonidas was holding a couple of daggers, staring at them with a bored look.

"I'd be careful on speaking, little girl. Your blunt words can get you killed, don't you think?"

Lillian was frozen, rooted to the ground. Fear took ahold of her legs once again and she felt herself light and sweaty despite her whole body being cold as ice. Her stomach did flip-flops, twisting and turning in various directions it almost made her want to puke out her dinner.

"Leonidas, what are you doing?"

From the distance, a man wearing a red outfit approached them. A sword on each hand, dragging against the pavement of Palmacosta with blood trickling down and forming a bloody pathway behind him. Cold brown eyes landed on her causing her to shiver, her thoughts screamed to run but her legs just wouldn't obey her. They felt glued, like gravity didn't want her to move at all.

He looked around eighteen years old, his brown locks were spiked up in one side.

"Sir Lloyd!" The commandant was immediately at his side and knelt down.

"…Lloyd?" She felt a combination of panic, fear, anger, and betrayal. Why was Lloyd here?! Did he really order this? Murdering the people of Palmacosta just to punish the Vanguard? That same guy who gave her that carving as compensation for ruining something in her home? That same guy who visited her when he would stop by at Asgard?

…It can't be.

"…Leonidas, head to the Western part of Palmacosta immediately. I will handle this girl." He glanced at Lillian, she swallowed thickly as mustered a glare with all her might.

He seemed to scoff at her attempt to not look frightened, "You villagers are all the same. You're all talk but no bite." He raised a sword, pointing at her. "No matter how much you beg or plead mercy, it doesn't wash away the sins you have committed."

She stared at him. This…this wasn't Lloyd. He remembered her when he visited a few months after his first visit to Asgard. If this was really Lloyd, then Lloyd would have never do something like this, right? Plus, he looked really sad about the whole Chosen thing for some reason he wouldn't tell why. But…maybe he was angry at them for not believing in the Chosen of Regeneration? She didn't know. But one thing's for certain, whoever this Lloyd was…he was intent on going to kill her.

That thought caused her stomach to do flips.

"Who…Who are you?!" She blurted out,

"I am Lloyd Irving."

"You…I don't believe you." She hissed, glaring at him. She found unknown courage swell inside of herself, "Lloyd Irving can't be _you_! He isn't a bastard compared to you and…and… and you smell funny!"

There was an awkward silence between the two.

It was times like this Harley would just appear and smack her hard for saying something stupid again despite the serious and tense atmosphere. His eyes narrowed dangerously and Lillian knew she had blurted out something idiotic again.

Without a warning, Lloyd dashed towards her before jumping into the air. With a battle cry, he was ready to slice her head clean off. Lillian screamed in terror and screwed her eyes shut, holding out her arms in an effort to protect herself. A small runic circle appeared in front of her, forming into a star causing Lloyd to hit that instead of her body.

His eyes widened in shock at the appearance of a small barrier, he tried to break through it but was blown back with a cry into a stack of boxes.

Lillian peered through her lashes when she didn't feel any pain, her eyes widened at the sight of the magic circle before it vanished suddenly.

It was Ash's magic.

She felt something warm on her middle finger, she looked to see Ash's ring glowing brightly with silver particles inside. They bounced around the crystal, Lillian couldn't help but admire the ring. It was Ash's emergency ring, if he wasn't around to protect her then the ring would do the job. It was only temporary and would disappear if it was used too much. The silver ring was already slowly disintegrating, was his attack that powerful?

Lloyd's groan could be heard from the boxes, she snapped her head up with her eyes wide. Lloyd was staring to stir and slowly got up with wood chips falling of his hair. Her mind screamed for her to run away before he could regain his senses, she hesitated on moving. Turning to her shoulder for a moment, she quickly hightailed out before Lloyd could unleash a move on her.

"_Demon Fang!_"

A blast of sheer power came towards her, breaking the ground in the process. The ring immediately reacted and formed a barrier from the place she once stood, blocking the shockwave which in return, caused the ring to disintegrate even faster.

Lillian turned a corner causing her to slip and fall. She didn't even process the pain and picked herself to continue on running as fast her legs could take her, she had spent a good amount of time running back in Asgard and she was grateful for that training.

She nearly crashed into a wall when she ran through the smaller paths and did a random turn, using the wall to push herself even faster. Her breaths grew ragged as she ran and ran without even looking back, her mind was blank except for that one word.

_Escape._

When she did another turn, her horrors has been fulfilled and found herself in a dead-end.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn!" She cursed, looking for anything to escape. She could scale the building but she couldn't even lift herself up to that window, it was too high. Hopefully, Lloyd had lost her along the way.

She turned to retrace her steps but standing right there, was Lloyd Irving himself.

Goosebumps prickled her smooth skin, she instinctively stepped back and tried to hide her fear by glaring at the eighteen-year old man. He was two years older than her and he was already a murderer, which was the scary part.

His swords glinted in the darkness, poised to kill her. Lloyd's eyes were filled with unfeeling emotions, staring at her like a predator towards its prey.

"Nowhere to run," She detected amusement in his tone causing her to wrinkle her nose in disgust.

He approached her, raising his swords. "Now, be a good girl and…" He moved inhumanly, appearing in front of her as wind swirled around his sword. His eyes suddenly turned mad with bloodlust dripping from them. "DIE!"

He aimed at her stomach. Her eyes widened in horror as she held out her hands, she had always heard of the term that the world would move at slow motion and honestly…she didn't believe it one bit. It was a crazy thing. The world moving in slow motion? But…right now, the world felt like it was moving in slow motion.

So this was it? This is how she would die?

She had never got to experience a chance to actually feel like she lived and now…she was going to die? This soon? Without having an actual life?

Why…

Something throbbed inside of her, beating wildly.

…

No…

She can't die.

Not now.

Not now.

_Not now._

She can't waste it now.

She wanted to live.

To live.

**To live.**

"I WANT TO LIVE!" She shouted, throwing her hands out in her last attempt to protect herself even if it was futile.

A white shield formulated in front of her, blocking Lloyd's incoming Sonic Thrust. His eyes widened once again as something shattered on her finger and in the blink of an eye, a reddish-purple symbol formed underneath her. An odd language he couldn't identify was etched on the edges of the circle, a large curved cross appeared with a six-pointed star in the middle of the cross. It slowly swirled around her, causing the debris around to suddenly flow around her along with the mana that were made visible.

Lloyd jumped back when the shield had shattered apart, disintegrating into white particles that joined the swirling tornado of mana. He held his swords up to protect himself from the rubble that was fired towards him at rapid speed and with the pressure that forcibly pushed him back.

Through the light and debris, he saw the girl floating in the middle of it unconscious. The mana coiled itself around her and slowly made her disappear, his eyes widened and readied himself. "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" He shouted, jumping towards her and aimed his sword to her chest.

A small runic circle appeared, spinning as it slowly disappeared along with two balls of green light. A large one spun underneath Lloyd, it glowed as wind slashes attacked his whole body without any mercy. He didn't have enough time to pull up a barrier, he cried out in pain as the wind slashed him repeatedly in high speed. He knelt on the ground in pain and held his side.

When he looked up, the odd magic circle was slowly disappearing but the girl had already disappeared from sight. He grunted, "…She got away."

_**-x-**_

It was so bright.

Floating in the middle of a white abyss, Lillian was unconscious. Slowly, she peered through her lashes tiredly and saw golden and silver specks of light dancing around the whole abyss and rising upward until they disappeared from her sight. She felt warm, a comfortable warmth enveloping her body and expanding outward.

A figure stood in the distance, a white silhouette of something.

"_Who's there?" _Her thoughts echoed in the abyss, she slowly blinked to readjust her eyesight since everything was switching from being blurry to clear.

The silhouette didn't move but instead, extending a hand out and released a red speck of light. The light floated towards her, she went to grab it but it slowly entered inside her chest. A warm feeling filled her whole body causing her to unconsciously touch her chest.

She turned to the figure who touched an invisible ground and began walking away, her eyes widened as she dropped down so suddenly and began chasing after the person. "Wait!" She shouted.

The white silhouette ignored and continued walking, leaving a trail of light on its wake. She suddenly rammed into an invisible wall causing her to stumble back in shock, Lillian touched the walls and tried to find a way to get through.

The silhouette turned towards her before disappearing completely.

The girl blinked in shock, pressing her hands on the invisible walls as the sudden wind blew the silhouette away.

'_Wake up.'_

A voice whispered into her ear causing her to look around, and oddly…she didn't feel frighten of the voice. She whipped to her side, "Who's there?"

'_Wake up.'_

A bright light suddenly flashed on her chest causing her to screw her eyes shut and cover her eyes using her arms, she felt a strong pressure as she was suddenly blown away from the walls. Instead of flying across she felt like she was falling, falling deeper and deeper into the white abyss.

'_Wake up, Lillian.'_

The next thing she knew, the white abyss descended into darkness. She felt like her eyes were closed when she pulled her hands away, even her arms felt like she was holding onto something tightly. Lillian realized she was closing her eyes and tried to make an effort to open them, she didn't know that opening eyes felt like lifting a large boulder over her head but she forcibly lifted her eyelids.

Everything was blurry and disorientated but she felt hair tickling her nose, blinking a few times to gather her surroundings she realized that she was moving—no, she was being carried.

Her head was resting against a shoulder, her arms were in an 'X' fashion against a neck. She looked up and the first thing she saw was blond.

"…Where…" She couldn't even muster energy to talk properly, she just wanted to sleep and stay awake at the same time. Her legs felt like she ran around the world nonstop and her arms felt like she lifted a mountain.

"You're awake?" The person said, looking to the side for a moment. His voice practically lulled her to sleep again but stubbornly forced herself to stay awake as much as possible. She couldn't see his eyes. Did this person save her?

She noticed that it was still dark out, they were surrounded by the plains. She tried to reply back but it came out in a mumble response. He turned back to the road, staring straight ahead. "Where are you from?"

Lillian tried to think about it, forgetting momentarily where she lived exactly. She mustered her strength to say this properly, "…As…Asgard…" It was at least understandable. She didn't know if she was still dreaming or this was reality but she didn't care, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep. Everything started to become blurry and disorientated.

The person asked her another question but everything went deaf when she found herself enveloped by darkness again.

_**-x-**_

**A/N: Rewrote it because I'm a little shit and LILLIAN IS SO ****MARY-SUE****, UGH. Now I put more personality in her? I think? I THINK I MADE HER ARROGANT? OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE.**

**I bet you want to get all kung-fu on me for not updating bUT I MADE THIS CHAPTER/PROLOGUE 9,000+ WORDS BE PROUD. Actually you don't need to since I practically threw up on the document (no not literally). I don't want to give up on this because EMIL LACKS LOVE. MARTA GIVES LOVE. RICHTER GIVES LOVE. LOOK HOW APPRICIATIVE THEY ARE! Besides, I love you all and if we were together then I'll be like "Yo man, turn over and I'll massage you."**

**And you'll be like "oh okay."**

…**god it sounded better in my head.**


	2. World in Discord

**A/N: Revised version of chapter two, still 10,000+ long. Amazing. It's changed a bit—I lied, it's actually a lot. It might be different, it might be boring, we will never know unless you read it (In my opinion I liked it since I practically word vomited on the document then edited it). But hella, I still love TOS: DotNW. **

**Oh, I added a reference to another anime/series of songs (/wink wonk). Can you tell what it is?**

**Onward to chapter two!**

**-x-**

**Chapter Two: World in Discord**

**-x-**

Mornings were something Lillian enjoyed and hated at the same time. It felt refreshing to be awake and watch the sky turn into brilliant shades of dark blue, light blue, purple, red, and pink. It was fascinating to watch them change colors as the sun peeked itself from the eastern skies while the twin moons vanished in the west. The morning air gave her a sense of happiness and peace, it always had a calming effect with people.

But being forced to wake up before the sun could ever peek from the horizon was considered hell for her. She loved sleeping and being pulled away from it was the worst feeling she felt every morning, especially since her guardian comes in and practically kicks the door open, booming her to wake up to experience the day.

It took her a good thirty minutes to change and drag herself to the inn where comfort beckoned her to stay. It was her daily routine, be forcefully woken up, change, and then head out to the nearest place where they had food or drinks before actually seizing the day. The worst thing about 'seizing' the day was that she had absolutely _nothing _to do except poke fun at anyone she could get her hands on or nag someone she could nag.

She was amazed that Luin wasn't fed up with her attitude and boot her out without a second thought or that the villagers still tolerate her. Maybe they were so used to her attitude and acted like it was a normal occurrence in Luin. Well, that wouldn't be fun anymore if they were used and expecting her little antics.

"Here you go, little lady!" A man with curly brown hair offered the half-dead sixteen-year old girl who was sprawled over the table like she was sleeping while sitting.

She shot up like a jack-in-a-box, her hair was curled in awkward directions as she stared with a zombie expression at the man who just laughed quietly at her look. She mumbled out thanks which came out in awkward jibberish and took the hot cup in her hands, she felt the hot mug and let out a content sigh.

"She's not yet alive, is she?" The innkeeper laughed quietly, watching the petite girl with interest.

The brown haired man shook his head, walking away from the half-asleep girl. The said girl was still looking very content on holding the mug, Luin was cold despite Lake Sinoa being a dried mess. She didn't really like the cold unless she had something warm around her.

Lillian took a sip of the hot chocolate, feeling the liquid practically fill up her body with comfortable heat. She suddenly lifted the drink, "May hot chocolate be eternal."

"She's at it again." He sighed, shaking his head. "Hey, little lady, what are you going to do for today? Are you going to hang out with the twins again?"

A woman nodded her head, "Oh yes, Dida and Moll! I heard from their parents that they're quite enamored with you, Lily. Expected of a cute girl like you."

Lillian visibly cringed at the mention of the horribly named twins. Because she was the only girl their age, the twins developed annoying and irritating crushes on her. She would naturally be flattered with crushes and admirers like any normal girl would but, _ugh_, it just _had_ to be them.

She couldn't say she hated them but she couldn't say she liked them either. They were okay people but the only problem was that they don't even know how to stop bringing back the same conversational topic again and again and again. Not to mention, they really liked talking about people behind their backs—more specifically, Emil Castagnier.

It was funny how people pretended to be tough when the person in question isn't around.

"Nah," She took another sip of the sweet drink, "Probably cook, since I am an amazingchef if I do say so myself."

All eyes went wide in alarm.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. I actually need to head back soon or else Uncle might throw a fit." She snorted at their expressions, "You all look scared."

Another villager sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Need I remind you about the fire incident and how you nearly wiped out half of the population of Luin through you making a 'simple soup'?" It was an incident that forever marked the day that Lillian will never, ever cook…ever _again_.

She rolled her eyes, "You're all dramatic. Be happy about my cooking! You could just ask me to make a sandwich and give it to your most hated person and they'll be out of commission for a month." The corners of her lips were tugged into a smile as she took sip of the hot chocolate.

But it was true, she was the most dangerous cook in all of Luin _and _Asgard. And she knew that she was a terrible cook but was proud of it, the only reason why she cooked in Luin was because they practically forced her to cook soup. They were unaware of her reputation with cooking and well, she accidentally caused a forest fire.

Now there was a law passed by the mayor that Lillian was banned from cooking until she improved…which never happened.

She absentmindedly held a hand to her chest, instead of feeling the usual smooth orb she felt the fabric of her hooded caplet. Her necklace broke when she came to Luin to be dropped off by Ash, it was pretty sudden and it startled her when it bounced on the ground. She thought it was going to break knowing how old it was but it didn't, oddly, and just bounced until it came to a halt on a small patch of grass. She had it taken to a blacksmith who happily began working to make her a new sturdy necklace for her red orb.

That or they were excited to check out her orb since they never got a chance to touch or even research about it.

He said it would only take three weeks and so, she waited patiently through those three weeks. She huffed and took a sip, leaning her chin on the palm of her hand.

Maybe they would be done by now.

She glanced at her right hand, a blue-ish colored ring was on her middle finger. It was given to her by Ash when he left her in Luin, it was a replacement for her other ring that shattered during that incident in Palmacosta, why he didn't give it to her when she returned to Asgard was beyond her.

It's been a few months after the incident in Palmacosta and her with Lloyd and that Leonidas guy. It was called the Blood Purge but she dubbed it as the day she thought she would join her mother up in the skies. Her memories were foggy during that incident but she could remember that golden eyed man and Lloyd chasing after her with those bloodthirsty and maddening eyes of his. There was a gap during then, she couldn't remember what happened during the whole chase.

But she could distinctively remember being carried by someone, someone as warm as Ash when she rode on him. It felt caring. She didn't know if it was a dream or not but Ash told her that he had found her being carried by someone before taking over and taking her back to Asgard, she asked if he could elaborate on his looks but he just said he was a man who looked a little lost of everything.

According to Ash, she had been sleeping for nearly three days and the healers said that her body felt strained and was just recovering through a comatose state. When she woke up, she felt like she had a good night's rest and felt really heavy and tired. Bell was sitting on a chair next to her and practically went hysterical when she said her name, Lillian couldn't react properly since she felt extremely sluggish but that didn't stop her from hugging her best friend through tears on seeing her safe and not harmed.

Lillian lied her way through the barrage of questions regarding on who did this to her, the people of Asgard respected Lloyd for defeating the monster who they believed was the summon spirit Sylph but wasn't. But during the time, she had to be put in bed rest since she felt really sluggish for a few days. She really didn't want the people of Asgard to hear about this, even if it was Lloyd or not—her consideration was often called stupidity because of it.

Because of that whole fiasco, Ash was tasked to train Lillian in swordplay and close combat. She was still clumsy with using her sword but she was a natural when it came to close combat, it might be because she constantly used her legs and arms, scaling buildings, walking along roofs, climbing trees and cliffs.

She took one final sip of her hot chocolate and yawned into her hand, "I'm still tired. I can't believe he literally threw me out the bed, the sun wasn't even fully out yet!" She grumbled, rubbing her tear-filled eyes. "Better get all my errands done for today so I'll have free-time."

The man chuckled before his eyes lit up, "By the way, little lady. The Priest is wondering if you'll join the choir for the upcoming sermon, everyone enjoys listening to you after all."

"It all depends on how available I am, y'know. If I'm not in trouble or anything…" She trailed away, scratching her cheek sheepishly. They immediately knew she was planning something but they didn't speak a word, they just knew that she was going to do something.

The door suddenly opened, all eyes including Lillian turned to the door to see a man with long fiery red hair and forest green eyes. He had a strong build and a sharp and solemn gaze that sent a chill throughout the room, he wore sharp glasses and had a sword strapped to his side and an axe behind him. In all honesty, he looked really handsome. His solemn gaze firmly scanned the room before laying his eyes on Lillian.

She immediately stiffened when his green eyes bore into her own, she shrunk back and looked away. The honey-brown haired girl stared at the wall then stared at the floor with great interest, trying to find something amusing on the floor to avoid his hard gaze. She briefly looked up at him, staring at his whole stature for a moment.

He looked rather dressy compared to the normal villagers in Luin or Asgard, perhaps he was from the Tethe'allan cities? A nobleman? Aside from that, he looked…decent enough to be attractive. His aura screamed 'cool and amazing person', if Bell was here right now then she would probably swoon over him despite being engaged. Poor Elliot.

"Pardon me," He began, "But I would like to inquire if the mayor is currently in?"

The innkeeper blinked for a moment, stunned. "O-Oh, w-well…" Glancing at Lillian, the innkeeper found it hard to speak. "You could ask the little lady over here."

Lillian paled and fumbled for words to speak when his gaze landed on her once again, "May I speak to you outside?" He asked sternly, she wordlessly nodded her head and hesitantly followed him outside. She wondered if it was important enough for him to take her out of the inn. Before she left, she shot a dark glare at the innkeeper who just gave a sheepish smile and just gestured her to follow him.

They stood in front of the inn, him staring down at her while she felt very uncomfortable with his gaze. "U-um…What would you like to a-ask?" She fumbled over her words for a moment, trying to avoid eye contact.

He studied her for a moment before crossing his arms, his eyebrow cocked up. "Like I said before, is the Mayor of Luin currently in?"

She paused. Did he drag her out of the inn for this? No use for mulling over it now, she needed this tense atmosphere to be over with. She hesitated for a moment, "Uncle—I mean, the mayor…He's in…erm, but he's pretty busy with paperwork. Uh, I…guess he might be free to take appointments in an hour or more…uhh, if it's really urgent then I can take you—"

He shook his head, "That won't be necessary," Then he raised his eyebrow again, "Uncle? I haven't heard that the mayor had a niece…"

"Not…really, I'm not really his niece…" She scratched her cheek nervously, "My father is really good friends with the mayor of Luin, he really insisted that I should call him uncle which I'm doing now. Oh…My name is Lillian, Lillian Adamant by the way. You can call me Lillian…or Lily, either one is fine."

The red haired man's gaze hardened, "…Lillian Adamant?"

She felt uneasy with the sudden shift of the atmosphere before it softened considerably. He seemed to have recovered for a moment, "I apologize, my name is Richter Abend. Likewise, call me Richter, Lillian."

"It's nice to meet you." She slightly bowed her head out of habits.

"Likewise."

There was a thick silence between the two. Lillian fidgeted a bit, wringing her hands together before cracking her knuckles. Richter pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, "Well, Lillian. I would like to ask you another thing."

"Hm?" She looked up.

"Have you seen a girl with a red jewel on her forehead?"

She thought about it for a moment before shaking his head with a shrug, "No…I haven't seen anyone like that before in Luin, plus, I'm not allowed to leave the city because of my stupid uncle." She wrinkled her nose before waving her hand. "Sorry, I can't help you there, Richter. If I see her than I'll tell you, I guess."

"I see…" He raised a hand to his chin before curtly nodding again, "Thank you for your time, Lillian."

Lillian fumbled over her words, bowing slightly. "U-Uh…The pleasure is mine."

He eyed her for a moment before leaving her standing in front of inn, Lillian watched him as he left and stared at his back. He really looked cool, he even spoke curtly, and had a solemn expression. She raised a hand to her chin and rubbed it in thought for a moment.

"So there are actually people who act like him?" By him, she was mentioning her father who looked a bit like Richter. He had long hair too. Her eyes lowered slightly, staring at the gray stone ground quietly.

The wind suddenly brushed against her skin, prickling them with a cold feeling. She shivered before rubbing her cheeks with a groan, it was still morning and it was expected that the wind would be extremely cold. The sun was already halfway into the air, coloring the skies with gold, orange, and blue.

She had to admit, she liked looking at the sky during the dawn, dusk, and at night—especially since she had a habit of looking at the sky or even sleeping under it.

Lillian blinked for a moment, glancing at the building next to the inn where a person left with a bow.

"Oh yeah, which reminds me…"

Lillian approached the weapons shop, a blond haired man was squatting on the floor next to a dog who was wagging his tail happily. The dog seemed to notice Lillian and barked happily, his tag wagged even faster as he stood up in an attempt to trot over to her. The man seemed to be taken aback for a moment before realizing the honey brown haired girl climbing up the steps, he grinned and raised a hand in a greeting.

"Good morning, Lillian!"

She yawned out, scratching her head. "Mornin', is my necklace done?"

He pointed at the store with his thumb, "Yup, waiting to be picked up."

"_Finally_." She drawled, rolling her eyes for effect. She had been patiently waiting for this day to come and it took her great effort to actually _be _patient, she nearly broke a window to escape outside when she couldn't wait inside of the Mayor of Asgard's home. Harley had to hold her back with all the effort he could muster when she held a stool and was ready to smash the window into pieces.

The man nodded his head when she muttered thanks and entered the weapons shop with a loud bang. The customers jumped at the loud banging noise while the workers just sighed and continued doing their business. Even some of the traveling swordsmen leaned over the railing to take a good look at the person who slammed the door open.

She felt like an ant amongst the warriors here, they were much taller and bulkier than herself. Scars were marked all over their skin with some bandages wrapped around their shoulders and arms, some had them on their torso and calves. The differences were so distinct that Lillian's eyebrow twitched at the feeling of being the smallest person in this building, there weren't much girls which she didn't know why.

At least it wasn't a tavern for fighting or else she might actually snap and flip a table on how loud it would be.

Despite looking tough and rough, all of them were big softies who weren't afraid to show emotion. She heard their stories and learnt about chivalry and other warrior conduct, the usual stereotype of fighters were that they were tough, they were fearless, they don't show emotions, and that they worked solely for money or death. She actually believed in that until she met and befriended a couple of warriors that told her stories about their adventure.

It might be another reason why she doesn't jump into conclusions as well. She learnt her lesson.

She trusted them greatly, especially since they treated her decently instead of the usual thought that they were barbarians. She befriended a couple of wandering swordsmen only because she never once left Asgard or Luin unlike her best friends and wanted to know more about the world.

Lillian approached the desk where a bulky man was working, he noticed the girl and laughed boisterously. "Well, if it isn't little Lillian! What can I get for ya, little missy?"

She crossed her arms, scowling. "I'm really wondering why it's becoming a thing to call me 'little'. I'm sixteen, not fourteen—or younger." She rolled her eyes, running her hand against her fluffy hair.

He laughed again, "Because it fits you, little missy. We've been calling ya 'little' even when you were a little girl. Right?" He looked to the other warriors who came through Luin and Asgard often. They all raised their weapons and chorused an 'Aye!' in agreement.

The honey brown haired girl rolled her eyes again, "_Men._" She said scornfully, "Come up with something cuter instead of 'little'."

He snorted, "Little matches you perfectly."

"I will stab you with a _spoon_."

The man reached over and patted her head with another boisterous laugh that rang throughout the building, "Are ya here for your thing?" He rubbed his chin with a meaty hand.

"It's not a thing! Well I call it a thing, but you get the point." She shook her hand around, her light sleeves waving along with her movements.

The man took out something from underneath the table, a wooden felt box with a red circle in the middle. He opened it and lifted up the necklace for her to see, her dull red orb was merged with a flat gold circle, a white small teardrop hanged underneath. The necklace chain was gold and sturdy-looking.

"We used durable ore to make it, but we didn't tamper the orb, don't worry. The white teardrop was just something we decided to add when we found it during one of our scavenging for materials, and also…" He turned and snapped for another worker who dashed to the backroom and came back with a sword.

It was in a blue sheath. The guard was shaped into petals while the handle was wrapped with gray leather and the hilt was a dirty gold color with a green circle in the middle. The sword resembled a rapier but the blade was too thick to be a rapier, Ash had made this personally since her movements were quick so the sword needed to be light enough for her to move and strong enough to deal damage. They just upgraded it to be more effective.

"Here you go, your sword and little charm. No charge needed. It's the least I can do after ya worked so hard to help this town." He handed her the things.

Her eyes twinkled in joy as she took her sword and strapped it around her waist, then she took the necklace and locked it around her neck. She straightened out her hair, the white teardrop dangled from the orb causing her to beam brightly.

"Thanks for fixing it. I had this for sixteen years, I'd feel lost if I don't have this with me." She fiddled with her pendant,

"No prob, little missy. Now run along, today's going to be a busy day."

Lillian nodded her head and left while saying goodbye to the friendly mercenaries. They were really great people but the only problem was their attitude towards discrimination, other than that, they were great people who were willing to actually sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.

The sun was finally up, it gave the town a refreshing feeling but without the flow of the water then it really didn't feel like it was truly refreshing. But still, it was the City of Hope and it really brought her hope when she watched the people do their daily business. The only problem was the annoying and irritating side of Luin where they automatically jump to everything like frighten animals, they didn't like Ash because he was a large beast despite him being very mature and calm.

Unlike Asgard, they will never accept Ash into Luin.

A howl suddenly pierced the morning sky causing her to stiffen in shock, her eyes going wide for a moment. That was really surprising to hear a howl in the morning, it sounded like a wolf's howl and usually, wolves came out in the night to hunt don't they? It was strange to hear a howl early in the morning but then again, monster activity had been acting up suddenly these days so she didn't feel too surprised. It probably was a wolf calling to its pack.

Weird changes had been happening around the world after it was rejoined as one but she didn't know what exactly, when Lake Sinoa dried up they blamed Emil Castagnier instead of coming to the conclusion that it was part of climate change.

Emil Castagnier recently came to Luin a few months ago and according to the townsfolk, ever since he came there were sudden monster activity followed by Lake Sinoa suddenly drying up. Also because he detested Lloyd Irving and because of that, they believed he sided with the Vanguard which were against the Church of Martel and was out to kill them all for supporting Lloyd.

She saw him a couple of times but he always hanged his head low and avoided eye contact, of course since everyone sent nasty looks towards him.

She briefly had eye contact with him when she was dangling her legs off the bridge but he didn't seem to realize that she was watching him. He was a quiet one, she expected a more gruff and colder personality instead of that meek and pathetic looking one. Her expectations felt depressed. But despite that, she wanted to meet him face-to-face, if he was the reason then she wanted to know why exactly.

She stretched her body and headed down, wondering what she should do for today. If she had nothing to do today then the twins would bother her and start making excuses to stay with her, she wrinkled her nose.

"I thought when boys had crushes on you it would feel flattering and would look cute to see boys stumble over themselves. But Didi and Molly?" She shivered, "I wonder if their parents knew they were going to be the bane of their existence and gave them horrible names because of it?"

She snorted. Well, it came true if that was true.

"Crap!" She suddenly shouted, "I forgot about Uncle! He's going to brutally murder me if I'm taking too long!"

The last time she wasted time, she had to clean the whole house as punishment for getting side-tracked and causing trouble somewhere. She wasted no time and ran towards the metal railings, she grabbed onto the metal bar and threw herself over it.

She didn't even look remorseful when collided with someone.

"_Waah!"_

She landed on someone she could have sworn he ran out of breathe when she smacked onto him. She quickly recovered and picked herself from the ground, dusting her clothes off from tiny dirt and little rocks.

"Whoops, I didn't pay attention." She noticed that she landed on a boy around her age, he had blond hair and tanned skin. Was he knocked out? "Uh, heeey! Are you okay? Sorry about, uh, landing on you there."

He turned to her, showing her a pair of really bright green eyes. Her eyes widened. Did…Did she just land on _Emil Castagnier_? Out of all the people, she landed on Emil. Now she felt remorseful that she landed on him out of all people, if it was Dida or Moll…she would have a field day and gladly cause their pain.

He seemed to notice that she was staring down at him and looked away instantly. Lillian extend out her hand towards him, "You're going to get dirty if you sit there…although you should get dirty and change out of those awful clothes…" She muttered the last part to herself, looking up and down at his outfit.

It was a white tunic with a white and blue jacket with sleeves up to his elbows, black Bermuda shorts, and brown shoes. All in all, Flora and Alba must have awful fashion tastes to dress up their nephew in this sort of outfit. Unless…he picked it out himself?

Emil stared at her hand for a moment before looking down, avoiding eye-contact and taking her hand. She pulled him up only to scowl when she realized he was a few inches taller than her, she had to look up to see his face but he avoided eye contact with her and looked away.

"Sorry again for suddenly smacking into you."

"…I…um…I-It's fine…"

Lillian just stared at him for a moment, studying his expression and actions. "So…" She began, drawling out with a fake bored tone. "You're Emil. I've seen you a couple of times but we've never met face-to-face, right?"

He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head in agreement.

"I know you know me through the people of Luin but since we get to finally meet each other face-to-face, it's proper to greet each other." She said, watching him look at the ground for a long time before he looked at her properly. She smiled, "My name is Lillian, it's nice to finally meet you properly, Emil."

"…It's nice to…meet you too, Lillian." He said stiffly, like he was trying to force out the words.

"Hey, you know, you can call me Lily. Don't be formal." She waved her hand around, he looked at her for a moment before looking away.

She raised an eyebrow at that action but then again, he never had direct eye-contact with anyone before. He continued to stare at the ground, not saying a single word, his hands were clenched together gently and touching his sides. Lillian sighed out loudly.

"You know, you shouldn't look down."

He stiffened, slowly looking up and waiting for a loud lashing from her. Especially since she creased her eyebrows together and looked irritated, his heart sunk when he thought that maybe…there was someone here that was friendly.

Lillian scratched her cheek in a laid-back manner, "If you look down, you'd instantly think negative thoughts. And when you think negative thoughts you'd start degrading yourself. I've watched you Emil, I admit, and through your actions I can tell you're kind."

He looked up at her, shocked. "B-but…how can I…I'm the one who…" He fumbled for words.

"That's it, I heard through the townsfolk that _you're _the cause of the monster activity and Lake Sinoa drying up suddenly. If you were the real reason then you wouldn't admit so suddenly, usually, you would be frantic and shout: 'It's not my fault!' in a panicked and angry manner if you were blamed for the truth." She said, "Just like how my best friend in Asgard would react when she ate a slice of cake Aisha baked."

Emil was silent for a moment, Lillian ran her fingers through her fluffy hair. "Everyone says I'm too trusting, I admit that's true. But you're a good person, I really think so." She smiled, "I really hope that we could be really good friends."

Emil looked at her with wide eyes, they looked a bit misty but he instantly looked down. "…Wh-Why do you want to be my friend? I mean…don't have any friends. No one really likes me…I'm weak, I'm spineless, and I can't do anything right…" He trailed away, looking miserable. He already had a lashing from his aunt, now his mood just worsened.

"…_And?_"

He looked up, bewildered at her words. She just crossed her arms and tilted her head, her eyebrows arched up. "That isn't an excuse to not be my friend, Emil. Are you telling me that I shouldn't be your friend because you have emotions?"

"B-But, I'm the reason why…"

She shook her head, "Do you think—no, are _you_ the reason why monsters are around?"

Emil paused for a moment, "…No…"

"Then there, that's your answer. The only one that knows the truth is you, Emil. If people don't believe, then it's their loss." She shrugged, "Emil, you shouldn't degrade yourself over what others say. There's at always least one person in the world that appreciates you."

His green eyes looked pained, lowering his head in shame. He fumbled to reply, "…I…there's…no one who…"

"Then let me the first person to appreciate you, Emil." She grinned, her eyes twinkling brightly. Emil looked up in shock, eyes wider than it can ever be. "I'll be the first person to appreciate you and I'll be your first friend you've ever made, I don't care if you'd say no. You will be my friend and I don't care what will anyone else would say."

He had to stare at her, amazed on how straightforward she could be. "But, I…"

"No more buts, idiot."

"I…I'm sorry."

Lillian sighed and stepped forward, "Look up, Emil." He did, his green eyes met her midnight blue ones. Her eyebrows were creased together, "Hold your head high, there's no reason for you to apologize. You've done nothing wrong, you don't need to apologize for who you are and for being here. Instead, you should be grateful that you're standing here and living."

He lost his ability to speak on her words, stunned that there was someone…actually someone in _Luin_ who likes him. _Him_ out of all people in Luin. But through that stun moment, he managed to give a small smile to her.

He scratched the back of his neck, looking down. "T-Thank you…"

She clapped her hands together, "Now that you're my friend, we'll do what friends do. Do stupid stuff together." She tapped on her chin mischievously, "Are you good at anything, Emil?"

He shook his head, "N…Not really…"

Lillian nodded her, taking that into account as she rubbed her chin. "Then we're going to prank the Mayor of Luin."

Emil's eyes went wide with panic, bewildered beyond compare at her proposition. How could she prank the mayor of Luin? Especially since she might really get kicked out of the town. It was a miracle that _he_ never got kicked out of the town or even disowned by his uncle and aunt.

"B-B-But that's just…! Why would you want to prank the mayor?!"

"Last week, I was having a really good nap. The mayor thought that it was a great idea to wake me up by throwing _ice cold _water onto my body. I jumped out of my bed but landed face first on the wooden floor." She grimaced at that memory. There was a large bump on her forehead for three days until a healer came and casted first aid.

He seemed to smile at her irritation. "Wait…you live with the mayor? I thought you…"

"Uh…temporally," She said, "I live in Asgard with my companion, Ash. Right now, Ash is accompanying my friend and he asked the mayor of Luin to take care of me until he would return."

"Oh…"

"Where are you heading off to anyways, Emil?" She turned to Emil who seemed to be surprised for a moment before recovering.

He hesitantly glanced to the direction of the fountain plaza, "Um…t-to the fountain."

The honey brown haired girl followed his glance towards the fountain plaza where the statue of Lloyd was in, she thought about that Lloyd statue for a moment before shaking her head. She couldn't say she liked him after being pursued by Lloyd himself, she didn't know if that was that same guy who gave her a present or not. But she also couldn't say she hated him, he was the one who cheered her up two years ago when he visited Asgard.

"Mhmm, Fountain. Uncle says that's the pride and joy of Luin, it's a nice place isn't it?" She grinned,

He hesitantly nodded his head, "Yeah…" He glanced at her for a moment, "W-Would you like to go with me? But it's okay if you don't want to…m-maybe you don't really want to go with someone like me…"

Emil was instantly cut off when Lillian held up her hand to shush him, was he really _that _doubtful of himself? She rolled her eyes at him, "Obviously, I want to go with you. Didn't I tell you that we're going to be friends? Well, we're friends and I'm going to follow you to the ends of the earth, you hear? Now let's go!" She bellowed with a proud voice, linking arms with Emil and dragging him to the fountain plaza.

"W-wait! Lily! I…"

His protests went on deaf ears when the determined sixteen-year old stormed up the stony stairs, through the cobblestone path, and towards the fountain plaza like a solider towards battle. Lillian glanced back to see Emil looking brighter than what she had seen before, she grinned.

_That's what I'm talking about._

**-x-**

Emil finally broke away from Lillian when they approached the fountain. The honey brown haired girl approached the fountain and stood a few inches away from two villagers admiring the statue of Lloyd Irving. They bowed in respect to the statue of Lloyd who was stance in battle.

Lillian on the other hand, just stared at the statue with her arms crossed together and a tilt of her head. It was a nice replica of Lloyd to say the least, but this statue was made when he was probably sixteen—two years ago. According to her uncle, Lloyd and his group and pitched in money and helped to rebuild Luin after the Desian attack.

It was pretty thoughtful and damn generous of him to do so, especially since rebuilding and fixing the whole town must have taken thousands of gald. She understood the respect the villagers had for Lloyd, they respected that he was a great man who done his best to amend the destruction of Luin.

That's why she questioned whenever that Lloyd who pursued her like a beast was the same Lloyd Irving who had so much compassion for those in trouble.

"Lloyd…" Someone snarled behind her, a bit quietly too.

Turning her head slightly, from the corner of her eye she saw Emil snarling and glaring at the Lloyd statue. It was surprising to see someone with _so much hatred_, not once she had seen someone like this. The villagers of Luin were more frightened than hateful. She did hear about how much Emil detested Lloyd but she didn't expect him to hate him this much.

The hatred was overwhelming, she could feel how much malice he had against him.

So there was one person that Emil hated. She couldn't help but think seeing Emil frowning was cute, but him snarling was another thing. Lillian turned back to the statue to take another look at it.

Hate was such a strong word.

"Hey, Emil, we saw that!" A voice she knew too well shouted mockingly, an audible groan could be heard from Lillian as she pressed a hand to her forehead. Why must they appear now? Why did the heavens above hate her so?

Standing right next to Emil was tweedledumb and tweedledumber, a.k.a Dida and Moll. They _still _had awful names. They looked down on Emil, haughty, she just watched the two as they interact with Emil. The blonde shrunk back at the sight of the two, did they even notice that she was standing right here?

"Bow down to Lloyd the Great!" Shouted Moll, pointing his finger at him.

Emil felt uncomfortable with their hostility and mocking attitude, they had always bothered him no matter what. "I…I already did." He said,

They looked angry at his words, "No you didn't!" They shouted at the same time, Lillian cringed on how harmonious they sounded. Typical of twins, saying stuff together and annoying the crap of others. Emil flinched at their tone.

"You…You don't like Lloyd the Great, don't you?" Dida said,

His brother followed suit, "That's why you're trying to destroy our city!" He accused, "Because Lloyd restored it to its former beauty."

Emil stepped back, "Wh-What are you talking about?"

"Don't act dumb!" They barked sharply,

Dida stepped forward boldly, "Ever since you came here, Lake Sinoa's dried up and there's more monsters around!" She paused, listening very carefully to their words without sparing a glance. Was this why they blamed Emil for the recent monster activity? Because he hated Lloyd and the monsters coincidentally came here too? Were the people of Luin this scared?

Molly pointed at him, supporting his brother. "You're planning on getting your monster friends to attack the town, aren't you?" He shouted angrily.

Emil shook his head, holding his hands up as if trying to pacify them. "O-Of course not!"

Dida was silent before nodding his head, "Okay, prove it! He gave a smug grin.

"Huh?"

His brother seemed to understand what he said and nodded his head as well, "Swear your allegiance to Lloyd the Great right now!"

Dida seemed haughty and proud at what his brother said. "If you do that, then we'll believe you!"

They ganged up on Emil causing him to step back, they shouted angrily. "Come on, let's hear it!"

Lillian grumbled under her breath when no one in Luin made a move to help Emil, she whirled around her heel and stomped over to the irritating twins. She stood before them with her arms crossed, her head tilt in a dangerous manner with her eyebrows raised in mock boredom. "Oi."

The twins turned to the new voice, they instantly brightened up. "Lillian!" They shouted with an embarrassed look. She wrinkled her nose on disgust.

"Y'know, I so happened to hear that you're bullying Emil. Care to explain, _why_?" She tapped her fingers on her arm impatiently.

"He's a monster!" Dida shouted, glaring at Emil. "He's causing the monsters to run amok in Luin, Lake Sinoa, and even the travelers road! He's a cruel guy and deserves to be alone!"

She scoffed and looked at her fingernails, "Funny, I just _love _how ironic you sound right now." Her gaze moved to them, narrowing instantly. "Monster? Yeah, sure. I bet you didn't make an effort to know him—this is why I _hate _people like you. You are no less than a monster yourself." She snapped, glowering at them.

They were surprised at being told off by the girl they had a crush on, in an instant, they glared at Emil. "You tricked her!" They shouted, "I bet you called your monster friends to brainwash her!"

Emil looked alarmed on bringing Lillian into this fight, "No, I didn't!"

They glared at him, shouting together, "Then swear to Lloyd the Great!"

Lillian felt her temper flaring, Ash had constantly reminded her to control her hot-temper. Harley had experienced her temper tantrums and some traveling warriors had to be healed for bruises, black eyes, bloody nose, and bite marks after they insulted her friends. She curled and uncurled her hands in an attempt to calm herself.

She glanced towards Emil, she found his meek personality much comforting and soothed her nerves.

Emil glared at the floor before turning towards the stone plaque of Lloyd. He was glaring at the stone plaque, growling. Dida mockingly listened to Emil, "What's the matter?"

Moll followed his brother, "Swear it!" He snapped,

He growled louder this time, shaking his head. "No, I won't!" He snapped furiously, surprising the three of them. Lillian looked surprised at his outburst, hearing him shout for the first time. He whirled to them with anger evident in his eyes. "Lloyd killed my parents and I'll never swear allegiance to that murderer!" He barked.

There was a stunned silence between the four of them, Emil seemed to calm down a bit before looking down. The twins were shocked as Lillian until they glared at him. Dida grew angry at that, "We heard that!"

"So that's how you feel, huh!?" Moll glowered,

He shook his head, all confidence gone and grew scared. "N-No! Th-That's not what I meant to say." He tried to explain but Dida glared.

"Shut up, you monster!"

Moll stepped forward, "We'll teach you a lesson!" With that, he shoved Emil harshly to the ground.

Lillian could have sworn she saw red. In an instant, she had grabbed Moll's collar and brought him so close he could feel her breath on his face. Moll seemed to tremble when her eyes glared so deep he swore she was able to see his soul.

She whispered dangerously, "You wanna teach him a lesson? You wanna teach him a lesson? I'll give you damn lesson, you fucking asshole!" She pulled her fist back and was ready to start war. He let out a terrified strangled shriek and held his arms up to protect himself.

But before Lillian could start a blood bath, a voice surprised the three of them.

"Get lost." A curt tone managed to slice through her anger, they all turned to see Emil helped up by a red haired man. He avoided eye contact with the man, looking at the ground like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

Dida seemed to hesitate under his piercing green eyes, he felt himself shrunk back. "Wha…who the hell are you?" He demanded.

Her eyes widened, "Richter…" She muttered, still not releasing Moll from her hold but lowered her fist.

Richter helped Emil up then glared the twins, "I said go!" He barked with such fierceness that the twins felt their hairs stand up. Moll scrambled to pull away from Lillian but her hold was strong, he felt like his clothes would tear if he continued wriggling.

Lillian turned back to Moll who paled even further at the fury in her eyes, she brought him closer and glared. "Let me remind you, _tweedledumber_." She breathed, "I don't care how much you pester me but if you fucking bother my friends again, you would wish you and your brother were never born and never saw the light of day. Understood?" If looks could kill, Moll would have been dead two minutes ago.

He nodded his head, she held him tighter.

"I can't hear you, do you understand me?!" She held him even tighter, almost lifting him up.

"Y-Y-_YES MA'AM!_" He squeaked.

She glared at him one last time before roughly shoving him to the floor, Moll and Dida scrambled to escape the furious honey brown haired girl. With a huff and dusting her hands, she immediately rushed forward to Emil, all anger forgotten.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded his head, "I-I'm fine…" Emil hesitantly glanced to Richter, Lillian on the other hand was glaring at the direction where Dida and Moll had escaped. They were lucky that she didn't knock one of their teeth out or gave them a bloody nose. She might get in big trouble with the mayor but it was worth it.

"Asses…" She grumbled under her breath,

"Uh…I, um…" He tried to say before actually looked up to the red haired man with curious and worried green eyes.

Richter looked surprised, his eyes wide with shock. "You…!" He said sharply and in shock. "You are…!"

Emil blinked and slowly tilted his head, "Umm…yes?" He wondered if he did anything wrong. He shrunk back at bit when Richter kept on staring at his face, "Uh, w-what is it?"

The taller man just stared at him in alarm causing Emil to shrink and step back in fear of his alarmed look. The shock was suddenly gone as it appeared as he stared down at him. "Never mind. You know, you should stand up for yourself." He brushed past him then stood in front of Lillian. "And you, Lillian."

She perked up at the sound of her name, turning towards him. He pushed his glasses up by the side, "Don't act so rashly."

Lillian hesitated before nodding her head carefully, "Y-Yeah…" He looked approved of her answer and brushed past them.

The honey brown haired girl just watched him as he went, amazed at his ability to scare people off. "…He's as cool as Ash." She whispered in amazement.

Emil watched him go before looking down slightly, "I…I was too scared to even thank him. Maybe that's why I haven't been able to make friends…" He murmured in thought.

The smaller girl grimaced at his tone. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't make friends, the people of Luin were terrified of him. All because of the recent monster attack and the Desian attack left them traumatized.

"…Don't kick yourself over this." She murmured, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. Emil looked up slightly, "It all comes down to the people that want to be your friend. It's their loss for not noticing who you really are and how great you are.."

"B-But we just met a few minutes ago…" He trailed away, "How would you know if I'm great?"

Lillian turned to him and tweaked his nose with a smirk, "I know it because I know it, duh. But I really have to agree, you should take initiative on what you do or you won't get anywhere in life, y'know."

He looked at her for a moment before mulling it over, "Take initiative…"

She glanced to the direction Richter left, "I think…Richter isn't from Luin." She muttered to herself, the cold wind brushed against her cheeks making them feel cooler. She suddenly rubbed her cheeks with a frown, "Aghhh! If the cold keeps up, my cheeks will turn red!"

"…Stand up for myself." Emil suddenly said, Lillian's ears perked up. "He's right…"

"Hm?"

"I should thank him for helping me out the way he did." He nodded his head at his decision, "That's what I'll do."

Lillian smiled at his determination, "Okay, I'll help out." She pointed at the bridge next to the stone path of Luin. "He went that way, right? Let's go."

He nodded his head and was ready to follow her but he paused for a moment, staring at the ground. She was already approaching the bridge but then she realized he wasn't following her, she turned and tilted her head. "What's up?"

"Well…um…I-I would like to…to thank you. For, um, standing up for me back then." He stuttered, scratching the back of his head nervously. He avoided eye contact with the smaller girl, Lillian snorted at this action.

She couldn't help but grin, tackling the poor boy into a tight glomp. "You cute Emil, you!" She cooed, squealing like person seeing an adorable puppy.

Actually, in her eyes, Emil was a cute fluffy puppy. Having cute floppy ears and a cute fluffy tail. It was sad that she couldn't bear hug him for his adorableness since she was shorter than Emil, she was a head shorter than Emil which she really didn't mind. She liked having a petite height since her body would be lighter and gives her awesome abilities to avoid responsibilities and hide in small places.

Emil stuttered, raising his arms in wonder on what to do. His cheeks were flushed pink in embarrassment on a girl hugging him, but he never knew what a 'hug' felt like. He really couldn't remember his mom hugging him before and the only time he was hugged was by Aunt Flora when he came to Luin for the first time. And that was the last time he was ever hugged by Flora.

He felt warm being hugged by someone, it was the same warm feeling when Aunt Flora hugged him for the first and last time.

Lillian pulled away, grinning. "You're so adorable, I don't know _why _people don't like you. Hopefully, girls our age might start noticing your cute side and develops crushes on you." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

His eyes went wide with alarm and embarrassment, "Wh-Wh-Why would you say that?!" He yelled out in horror.

She pointed at him, "Aha! You yelled again!"

He flinched at that, "I'm…I'm sorry…"

She shook her head, waving her hand in front of him. "No, no. You got it wrong. It's not a bad thing, yelling. You have a louder voice and I want to hear your loud voice instead of talking so pathetically and softly. Don't get me wrong on the latter, I think your soft voice is cute too."

He didn't know if he should take that as a compliment or not but he settled for a small smile. "We should go find that guy." He said, glancing to the direction where he had left.

"Yeah, we should."

_**-x-**_

Lillian lamented over the loss of the water in Luin, it made Luin feel all moist and comforting when Lake Sinoa was around. Now the water was dried up and she longed to dip her feet in the lake and splash around for fun. It was fun too since she would 'accidentally' make someone fall into the lake when she asked for 'help' on a trick or errand she was doing.

Let's just say she was thrown into the water plenty of times because of revenge.

"There he is!" She called out, pointing at him.

Richter was standing in front a statue behind iron fences, it was a woman holding a hooked staff with something spiraling in the middle. She was holding out a hand towards somewhere she didn't know where. The woman was named Raine Sage, one of the members of the Chosen of Regeneration and according to Pietro and her Uncle, she was an excellent healer. She was supposed to come to Asgard to check her condition but apparently she was too busy to do so.

She understood since she was part of the Chosen's group and the Chosen is very important.

It was Emil's turn to squint to where she was pointing at. And sure enough, he was standing right there observing something.

Lillian shrugged, crossing her arms. She cocked her head to the side, "Maybe he's waiting for Uncle to finish up paperwork. He once let me do it and let me tell you, paperwork are bastards." She wrinkled her nose, glaring to the side.

Emil pondered over that, "…They don't seem bad…" He trailed away,

She snorted, "Let see you say that when you experience the hell called paperwork, _homework _is worse that paperwork."

Before Emil could respond, she tugged on his hand. "C'mon, let's go before he decides to loiter around another area." She pointed at him, Richter was moving from one foot to another. He was staring intently at the statue, probably admiring it or something.

Emil hesitated before nodding, they both headed towards Richter. Crossing the wooden bridge until they got closer, Lillian neared Emil and leaned to whisper into his ear. "Do you think he ever attracted a flock of girls?"

He looked surprised at that sudden question, "I…I think so…" He trailed away, imagining her words. He seemed to smile slightly at that thought. He looked like a cool person and Lillian seemed to think the same way.

By the time they reached Richter, Emil looked like he was ready to have a nervous breakdown. He didn't know what to say and stole glances at her often as if he was looking for support on a conversation. Richter had already realized their presence and simply glanced sideward.

"What is it?" His voice was firm and curt.

Emil shrunk back, thinking that it was a bad idea to even talk to him. Lillian immediately jumped to support his friend, and because she couldn't think of a proper question to start a conversation, she spoke the first mature thing that popped into her mind.

"Are you checking the statue out?"

There was an awkward silence between the two, Emil looked like he wanted smile but was afraid at the look Richter shot her. Richter was glaring at her, she could have sworn his ears turned a tad red. She shrugged, "It was a valid question, Harley did that once and checked out a statue of Aisha. It was creepy, I swear." She wrinkled her nose.

Richter ignored her and looked at Emil, "…If you got nothing important to say then I have something to ask you."

Lillian looked offended at that.

"Eh?! Uh…" He looked around for a moment before nodding his head hesitantly, "O-Okay…"

"So they said that your name is Emil." He said, "Well, Emil, have you seen a girl around here with a red jewel on her forehead?"

"What?" Emil looked up at him before realizing what he had said, "Uh, I…uh…n-no sir." He shook his head.

Richter cocked an eyebrow at his actions. "What are you so nervous about?" He crossed his arms, staring down at him.

He looked away, glancing at Lillian as if pleading for help. She just gestured him to continue and to be brave, he thought about her movements for a moment. Richter noticed it as well, staring at Emil for a moment before closing his eyes and reopening them.

"Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality."

"Huh?"

Lillian stared at him, Emil did the same thing too. Richter turned to the distance, his eyes seemed to stare so far off. It reminded her of that look her father would do when someone would remind her of her mother.

"They're words a human with a few screws loose said long ago." He said, "When you refused to swear allegiance to Lloyd, didn't you feel courage welling inside up of you? Those who grovel and beg, or run away at the first sight of someone's anger, are dogs. Or worse."

He glanced at Emil for a moment, "Are you a dog? Or a man?"

Silence loomed between the three of them, Emil eyes lowered in thought before he realized that he was staring at him. He stared right back for a moment before lowering his eyes, looking away from his cold gaze. "I…I'm…uh…"

Richter took a glance at Lillian before chuckling, "Just try your best to be a man, Emil." With that, he turned around and walked towards the Mayor's home, his weapons clinking against his armor.

Lillian stepped back, letting him pass by her but she didn't tear her eyes away from his form. She continued watching him for a moment until he entered the building, pondering over what his eyes meant. He had seen that look, especially with Elliot talking fondly about his previous girlfriend. She felt the wind brushing against her cheeks, the cold sensation tingled against her skin.

"Courage. The magic that turns dreams into reality." She heard Emil say.

The honey brown haired girl looked down for a moment, staring at the ground in thought. She crossed her arms, mulling over that strange feeling of nostalgia that smacked her right in the face. Her eyes were closed in deep thought. Has her mom ever told her something around those lines?

Lillian's eyes opened in joy, twinkling at remembering Richter. "He's really cool! I never met _anyone _like that 'sides Ash! Why can't there be people like him in the world." She grumbled, crossing her arms and wrinkling her nose in annoyance.

Emil seemed to snap out from whatever thought he had and nodded his head in agreement, "That guy was really amazing." He muttered in awe. He changed his demeanor, trying to copy Richter. "'Are you a dog, or are you really a man?'"

The blonde sighed out, "I can never say anything like that to someone. They'd only get angry at me."

She shrugged, "Maybe you're not cool enough? He has a cool aura around him and it practically makes you want to listen and be ashamed of yourself. I'm surprised no one got angry at his curt attitude." Lillian crossed her arms again.

"Er…wait. Maybe I should get angry at him."

"Nah, you're too pathetic looking to do something like getting angry."

"Y-You think so…?"

"Yeah—_Ack!_ No, no, no! I didn't mean it that way, Emil! I swear I didn—_Noooo! _Don't look so dejected, Emil! Smile! SMILE!" She frantically waved her hands around in a panic when Emil looked crestfallen, she grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. "I'M SO SORRY I HURT YOUR FEELINGS! _SMILE, FRIEND, SMILE!_"

Emil looked dizzy at her violently shaking but he couldn't help but smile at her franticness to get him to smile. Usually, when someone would hurt his feelings then they would ignore him or just laugh about it.

"I…I'm okay!" He managed to choke out before he could fall back.

Lillian froze and released him when she realized he was about to fall over, "Uh, I'm…sorry?"

He looked at his friend who was scratching her head sheepishly, he felt the corners of his lips tugging up into a smile as he scratched his head. "Its fine, Lily. I'm used to it."

The honey brown haired girl stared at him for a moment before she shook her head, "No, I don't care if you're used to it or not. I've hurt your feelings and I'm sorry, really." She bowed her head in apology then she looked up, "I can make it up to you…?"

He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, "I-It's fine, really."

She eyed him, "Are you sure?"

"I'm…I'm sure."

"You sure, you're sure?"

"Sure I'm sure."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

She eyed him for a moment before scratching her cheek nervously, "Well…Sorry, okay? We're still friends right?"

Emil looked surprised when she said 'friends' but he quickly shook his head slightly, "Yeah, we're…friends…we're friends." He seemed to smile a bit bigger at that, even his eyes said that he was excited at that word. "We're friends."

She nodded firmly, "Okay, we still have the morning and the afternoon to seize the day. What do you want to do?"

He stepped back a bit, "M-Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Uh…" He looked around for a moment, "…I should probably go home…"

Lillian looked dismayed at this, "No! You can't go home! Not yet! If you dare go home I will break down your door and forcibly drag you all the way to _my _room." She pointed at him, her eyes narrowing in threat.

He looked horrified at what his aunt and uncle would say if Lillian came to his home, he might pull her into his mess that he was in. He didn't want that for his friend, especially since she did so much for him despite meeting face-to-face for the first time today. But picturing Lillian breaking into his home was more horrifying, she might leave a mess in her wake. She looked like the type who didn't care about other small things if serious or angry.

"Hey, Emil, wanna eat with me during lunch?"

He looked up, surprised at her sudden question. "L-Lunch?"

"Yeah, lunch. I always eat lunch alone, but I really don't care. Plus, I need to make up landing on you earlier on." She scratched her head with an awkward laugh, "But maybe you don't really want to since it's all sudden."

Emil hesitated for a moment, glancing nervously to the pathway to his home. He really didn't want her to get in trouble too. "I'm sorry…" He looked down, his eyes staring at the cobble ground.

Lillian snorted, "Don't be, I understand perfectly if you don't want to."

"No! I-I mean…it's okay, we can have lunch…if you don't mind."

Her eyes lit up in joy, "Really?!"

"S-sure."

She grinned, "Damn, Emil! You're the best!" She slapped him on the shoulder with a boisterous laugh while he nearly fell over.

Emil just rubbed his shoulder, wincing on how strong she had smacked him. He could feel it tingle still. She was so petite and yet she smacked as hard as any grown man with muscles does. He suddenly felt worried for Dida and Moll, especially since she was ready to spill blood if he saw the murder in her eyes correctly. Lillian was nice, yes but she was _violent._

"L-Let's go." He said, worried that if he would stall her then he might get smacked even harder. Lillian was like a walking bomb, get her angry and she'll literally explode and murder everyone she's angry with. But now, luckily, she was as tamed as a cat.

Lillian happily followed Emil, she wondered if he was going to show her his house or something. It might be entertaining since Emil looked like the type to actually give a tour outside his home, pointing out the obvious structure of his home. He was cute, she had to admit.

Her eyes went wide when she heard that same howl, a wolf's howl. Dang, was there that much monster activity? It was surprising to hear that same howl, it must be a pack or something.

"It sounds like it's coming from the lakebed…"

Curious, she approached the wooden railway and leaned over the railing, "I don't see anything, there aren't any monsters loitering around." She turned to Emil who was in deep thought. She stared at him for a moment, feeling the wind brush against her hair and prickled her skin.

Another howl echoed causing her to turn back to the lakebed for a moment. She stared at the barren ground, there were no sign of life.

She wondered.

Why does the wolf howl resemble Ash's call?

_**-x-**_

**A/N: I was actually listening to the Japanese version of this. When Emil met Richter, his thoughts said 'Kowai' towards Richter when he stared at him, Kowai means scared or scary. It would be so much better if they put 'Scary' instead of 'What is it?' or 'Maybe this was a bad idea'.**

**Plus when he was thinking about going to the lakebed, Emil sounded so conflicted about his choices. To go or not to go. **

**EMIL IS SO CUTE HE SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, HOW DOES HIRO SHIMONO MAKE SUCH GREAT CHARACTER VOICES. I can't stop smiling when he goes 'E-eh…ah…a-ano…sono…' THIS BOY WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME. **

**Yuuki (Courage) and Yuki (Snow). Someone should make a pun out of this, someone call Cless.**


	3. Marta

**A/N: This is super late but congratulations to my wonderful wife Emil Castagnier for making eighth place on the 2014 (7th) Tales of Series Popularity Ranking Poll! As well as second place on Top five characters with a 'Gap' Personality! Woo, it's like Emil is much more popular in Japan than in America. **

**But hell yeah, adorkable Ludgar and Jude won First and Third! Also the actual nerd Luke winning second. Ludgar and Jude are now becoming the Yuri and Leon. **

**Enough of my rambles, here's chapter three!**

**-x-**

**Chapter Three: Marta**

**-x-**

The howls outside of Luin was something Emil couldn't ignore, Lillian knew that. He kept on glancing towards the lakebed every now and then, like something was luring him towards the monster howl. It wasn't like her curiosity, he really _wanted _to go and see the cause of the howls. She never saw anyone react just like him towards a howl out of all things.

But it was going to a hard task since Emil wasn't really allowed outside of Luin, except with a different reason than Lillian. If the villagers would see Emil leaving, they would automatically think that he was planning something with the monsters. And if Lillian was attempting to leave, then the Town's Watchmen would stop her and ask if she had an escort.

Before they could attempt to leave, Lillian entered inside the General Shop to buy some supplies with the small amount of money she had on her. It was better to be prepared for any monster attack just in case, especially since the villagers looked very frantic about the monster attacks. It's getting dangerous and they were losing a lot of men.

The elderly man noticed Lillian walking up to her but sent a suspicious look to the blond behind her who was staring at the products instead. He smiled at the honey-brown haired girl, ignoring Emil.

"Good morning, Lillian. How may I help you for today?"

Lillian beamed, nodding her head in acknowledgement. She looked around for a moment before she leaned close, whispering softly. "Can you do me a favor? Please don't tell anyone that I'm going to lakebed of Lake Sinoa, I'm _really _worried about our town with the recent monster activity." She made sure that her lies were undetected by staring slightly at the elderly man's eyes.

He was surprised for a moment, "We…We really appreciate your generosity, but are you sure…? Especially with that monster boy…" He sent a wary glance at Emil who was told to pretend to browse at the products before they entered the shop.

It was all part of Lillian's plan to get some supplies in a cheap price, she knew that the people appreciated her work which is why it was a great excuse to use to get free stuff. If there was a opportunity of doing things she can, she will take it.

Lillian nodded her head firmly, "Positive. I'm using him as bait you see…the monsters don't touch Emil right? So if I bring him out of Luin…and use him to my advantage…" She trailed away purposely, hoping that he would buy her lies.

And boy, did he buy it. His eyes lit up, "That's…brilliant!" He said, "Why didn't the Town's watchmen think of this?"

She sighed out in agreement, "I know, but this is our secret, okay? If more people know about my intentions then I'm sure that monsters would know too. So, I need medical supplies for my trip to Lakebed Sinoa…"

"Yes, yes. I know…" He bended down took out a couple of apple gels and some bandages. "Here you go, Lillian. And don't worry, it's half-off."

She beamed and took the supplies without a second thought, putting it inside her side pouch on her hip. "Thanks!" She handed him some gald and turned to Emil, she cleared her throat and held his arm firmly like would any soldier towards its prisoner.

"Stop dilly-dallying and let's go." She barked out, shoving him out.

Emil looked lost for a moment as he was forcefully pushed out of the General Store. When the door closed behind Lillian, she went to check her small pouch to see if it was firmly locked and unable to spill the contents. It was small but enough for them to head to Lake Sinoa and back.

She snorted, "Some people are so easy to manipulate."

He stared at her, "…That sounds evil."

"What can I say? I was raised that way." She said, shrugging her shoulders rather proudly of herself.

Then a thought crossed her mind, she immediately looked at Emil with wide eyes. "I just realized…you're going to be practically dead meat out there." She said without any hint of concern.

His eyes widened in alarm, "Wh-What do you mean?!"

"I mean, you don't have _anything _on you. Are you wearing any armor?"

He glanced at himself, wary, "Um…I'm wearing a small leather plate. Uncle Alba gave it to me a few months ago…" He trailed away.

She squinted at him, looking at his body stature. He was lean and lanky but if he actually trained a bit then his outfit would actually cling to his figure, Emil felt uneasy when Lillian stared at him so intently. Lillian scanned him up and down before nodding, "I think a sword fits you than a small weapon, do you have any weapons, Emil?"

Emil paused for a moment before glancing towards his home above the inn, "…Uncle Alba has a sword he doesn't use…"

"Great! Can you grab that then? We're headed for monster territory and it's better to be safe than sorry."

He thought about it for a moment, hesitating. Would he get in trouble if he were to get that sword? But they were going to investigate the Lakebed…and it's overrun by monsters. He looked down for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

"…I-I'll try…"

With a nod from Lillian, they both headed off towards the inn. Lillian decided to linger near the staircase to distract Alba or Flora if they returned while Emil rummaged through his home for that sword, Flora was out right now doing and errand thankfully so he wouldn't get in trouble with either her or Alba. He shivered slightly at the thought of angering Alba again, he already learnt his lesson on doing something that displeased Alba.

"Ah, here it is!" Emil pulled the sword from behind the cabinet.

Lillian was pretty considerate to think of his well-being instead of rushing ahead to the lakebed. He paused for a moment, staring at the sword with his green eyes lowering in thought.

…

…Why was Lillian to nice to him?

He couldn't understand why.

Why was she…so nice? So friendly? Was it out of pity?

He heard rumors about her, that she was a very friendly and caring girl with an eccentric personality. Even Dida and Moll thought of her highly. He'd never seen her before but he thought of her as a girl who was looked and acted like a princess since everyone admired so greatly. What he didn't expect was her to be a…manipulative and cunning girl. She _is _friendly and caring but she was too blunt about her thoughts and feelings, she even snapped in front of the twins even when she knew they liked her.

She was so straightforward and honest, unlike him.

If she secretly despised him then she would have shown it from the very beginning, just like with the twins.

Compared to him, she showed more courage than he was able to. She was eager to jump over to the lakebed, not even caring that there were monsters. He lowered her eyes, staring intensely at the ground with his hands curled into tight fists. Even now…he had doubts about heading over to the lakebed.

"_Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality. They're words a human with a few screws loose said long ago."_

His eyes widened, remembering those words of that man. He held onto the sword tighter.

"…I need to have courage too."

"Heeey! Emil! You okay in there?_" _Lillian muffled voice came from the outside.

Emil took one final look at the sword before heading out of his home, closing the door behind him. He looked down to see Lillian with her arms crossed, her head tilted to one-side, and her foot tapping impatiently. She rolled her eyes when Emil finally stood on the veranda.

"Took you long enough. C'mon, we gotta find a way to distract that guard over there." She said, pointing at the guard who was yawning into his hand.

"I-I'm sorry…" He lowered his head as he descended down the stairs.

Lillian sighed and took the sword from Emil's hand, "No need to say sorry, Emil. I'll hold onto the sword so that people won't feel suspicious with you holding onto a sword." She shrugged, "You may never know when someone might think you're plotting genocide."

The petite swordswoman paused for a moment before whirling over to Emil, her eyes bright with thought. "Actually, you being evil actually suit you. An evil mastermind under the guise of some pathetic fool. Fooling everyone that you were just a weak guy until…_BAM!_"

Emil literally jumped when she shouted. Lillian cracked a grin and began poking his shoulder with a sly look, "You got scared."

"Y-You shouted so loudly, of course I would have gotten scared. Jeez…" He sighed,

She waved her hand up and down, "Sorry, sorry. You're so easy to frighten, how cute."

He whined in protest but Lillian just snickered at his reaction. At that moment, another howl echoed in the morning sky sending another chilly breeze along the way. They both stiffened but Emil looked more uncomfortable than Lillian, the girl lowered her eyes before lazily glancing towards the direction of the howl. So it was at the lakebed. Emil was right. She pursed her lips in thought.

…_Why?_

Emil sighed again, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Why do monsters keep on calling me?" He shook his head in exasperation, "It's because stuff like this that make people say it's my fault that monsters keep appearing."

Lillian rubbed her chin in mock thought, as if running her hands through her imaginary beard. "I believe…it is a sign." She nodded her head solemnly.

"A sign?"

She nodded her head, serious. "A sign that you're some sort of…monster deity." She coughed for a moment when her voice cracked into a near laugh.

Emil frowned slightly before she shook his head violently, "I've got to ignore it! It's just my imagination." He assured himself and smacked the side of his head with his hands. A moment of silence passed between the two until Emil dropped his arms in defeat, "But it's so hard to ignore."

"Maybe monsters are attracted to your…pheromones." She nudged Emil with a wink, "Eh, you sly little devil."

Emil bluntly ignored her teasing. Lillian gave a mock offended look.

The petite girl rubbed her chin once again, "Before we could actually investigate…the howls come from the lakebed of Sinoa, right?" Emil nodded at that, Lillian followed his nod. "Do you know where it is? I never gone to the actual lakebed before."

"Well, if we want to go to Lake Sinoa's lakebed, we need to leave town." He pointed out, "It's not too far from here, er…at least that what I heard Uncle Alba said. I never gone outside of town on my own. W-Wonder if we'll be all right." He looked up, as if praying.

"Mom, please make sure we don't run into any monsters."

The shorter girl mulled this over for a moment, "Monsters doesn't technically come out in the open at day, but with the reports I've been reading from Uncle's files…it's strange for them to be suddenly active all of the sudden." She turned to Emil and patted his back with a grin, "Well, I'm counting on you to be a distraction."

He looked horrified, "Wha—Distraction?!"

"Use your monster god powers and bend them to your will! Isn't that cool? Now with this plan, I know we'll be fine."

"B-but…"

"We'll be fine."

Emil wanted to protest but she just firmly closed the conversation, he sighed for a moment until Lillian smacked him on the back causing him to stumble forward and nearly came crashing to the ground. He just looked at her for a moment, rubbing his head before they approached the entrance and exit of Luin.

They hesitated for a moment, Lillian instantly backed-up when a man came running their way. She instantly hid from plain sight near the door of the inn while Emil just looked confused for a moment when Lillian back-pedaled to the inn, but then he remembered that his uncle was part of the guards of Luin and he would instantly tell her to return home since he was here or if something was wrong.

And something was definitely wrong.

But even so, it was surprising to see that man appear. He faltered, realizing that if he was here than he won't even have a chance to go out, "Uncle Alba…"

The man, Alba, clicked his tongue in irritation at the appearance of the blond. "What do you want? Get the hell out of here, you little nuisance!" He snapped.

Emil lowered his head, "I'm sorry…"

Lillian's eyes widened before she turned to glare at Alba, ready to scream out profanity that could land on a ten page spread under the definition of filthy. But Emil just shot her a glance that instantly made her step back.

'No.'

She could read it clear as day.

Why? Why was he enduring this? Why didn't he say anything? Lillian opened her mouth to say something Emil gently shook his head, telling her to stay put with hand gestures. She felt helpless and she didn't like it, she wanted to protect him. She wanted to talk on the hits for him. But she couldn't do anything.

She just swore under her breath and glared at the cobblestones underneath her feet.

"Always causing getting in the way! Just go home and stay out of trouble!"

Lillian held the sword tightly, lifting her gaze and glaring at Alba with all the fury she could muster. Her fingers twitch to punch him, her fingers ached to feel him grovel on the ground. Her temper was slowly rising and she didn't know what to do to calm down.

"Just the sight of you puts the whole town in distress!" He lashed out, glaring darkly at him and not even noticing Lillian.

Lillian took deep breaths, trying to soothe her anger that was rising by the minute. She had seen people glare at Emil but his own _uncle _actually berating him so cruelly? His own _family_?! How twisted could Luin get?

The guard waved Emil off, "Forget the Vanguard-loving brat, Alba. Did something happen?"

"Monsters I've never seen before showed up in Lake Sinoa's lakebed! Several members of the city watch are down!" He turned his attention back to the guard and shook his head.

The guard recoiled in horror, "What?!"

Alba shook his head again, "I'm going to gather reinforcements. Go tell the mayor what happened!" He ordered, the guard nodded his head.

"Right!"

They both ran towards the direction of the mayor's home, ignoring Emil and not even noticing Lillian. When they were out of earshot, Lillian stared at the ground before glancing up to Emil. He was staring at the ground with his eyes lowered, she could clearly see the pain and how depressed he look over that lashing. Who wouldn't? Especially since it's your _family _saying all those abusive things.

She thought that at least…at least his relatives were kind to him, that they liked him no matter what. Wasn't families supposed to be like this? Having unconditional love for others? Lillian glared to the side, her hands trembling to actually punch something. Which she did unconsciously, her fist made contact with the wooden post making a slight crack noise

"Stupid bastards."

Was she that blind to what Emil had to go through? Why didn't she realize this sooner? She's been in Luin for the past weeks and yet…yet she never…

"…Lily?"

She looked up, realizing Emil was staring at her. She instantly smiled and scratched her head, masking her furious look and actions from before when she noticed his worried gaze. "Yeah? What's up? C'mon, loser number one and loser number two left leaving the entrance wide open. Let's go before they catch us sneaking out."

He stared at her for a moment before hesitantly nodding his head, "Right."

Without a second thought, they went down the bridge. Lillian paused for a second, staring back at Luin for a moment without any thought. She snorted before turning back sharply, chasing after Emil who already crossed the bridge.

**-x-**

The whole walk wasn't that long since Luin was _built _on top of Lake Sinoa. Emil was holding his sword in a clumsy way but she tried to correct his form—but he didn't seem to understand the lessons in swordplay. She couldn't teach them since she wasn't that good either.

Either way, at least he knew how to swing it without it suddenly flying across the field when he does so. Unlike her when she first tried out, the sword literally flew across the field, nearly hitting Harley and Linar along the way, and impaled a tree.

Good times.

During the walk, she started a conversation with Emil about himself and his hobbies. Apparently, Emil knew how to whittle since he mostly spends his days either stuck inside his home or forced to wander around for a bit. He also knew how to handle chores since he had to learn how to cook and clean for Flora and Alba. But other than that, he didn't have many hobbies. At least he read books and watched little shows that came around in Luin.

It gave Lillian a burst of energy as she animatedly chatted with him about different books they had read.

When they reached the part when the path would slope down, Lillian cursed loudly when she lost her footing and slid. It was a horrifying experience, especially since it was rocks and rocks alone, meaning if she fell that she would get a serious head injury or scrap her skin. And there was no way in hell she would waste apple gels on small wounds like scratches. Emil was heading down the slopes easily while Lillian cautiously got down with slips every now and then.

Emil decided to stay behind to help her just in case she fell but apparently he made a terrible decision. Lillian grabbed his clothes when she slipped again which caused him to nearly come toppling down while she managed to regain her balance.

It happened a few times until Emil actually slipped and instinctively grabbed onto Lillian's sleeve causing her to come sliding down the small slope with Emil standing above. When she finally landed on her posterior, she turned to glare at Emil who hurriedly came towards her.

"I-I'm sorry!" He blurted out so suddenly, panicking over the fact he caused her to fall.

She glared darkly at him causing him to shrink back at how fierce it looked until Lillian outstretched her hand towards him. He hesitated for a moment before shakily taking her hand, her grip suddenly tightened as she used his momentum to pull him down and pull herself up instead.

With a startled cry, he fell to the ground with Lillian towering over him. She grinned mischievously, her eyes lowered as she leaned towards him. "Hey now, Emil! There's no time to sit down and rest, if we don't hurry up we might get in trouble." She teased.

"Wha—B-But you…"

She clicked her tongue, "No excuses, c'mon. Let's go." She extended out her hand to him,

Emil let out a sigh but took her hand anyways. Once again, Lillian was reminded on their height differences between her and Emil. She found herself scowling when Emil looked down at her, he hesitated for a moment.

"W-What is it?"

"You're taller than me."

He scratched his head for a moment and looked away when she was staring into his eyes, "…I-I'm sorry…" He said,

Lillian shook her head, "No, no. It's fine! I enjoy being short honestly, it gives me a lot of opportunities. C'mon, let's go." She tugged on his wrist to follow her farther towards where Emil pointed at earlier. Lillian got confused when Emil pointed at the direction of the lakebed but she trusted him and followed his directions.

Emil told her that there was a cave in the lakebed that was revealed when the water dried up. They investigated it but couldn't go on further since monsters were residing inside the cave, she wondered if there was something in that cave that caused the water to suddenly disappear—maybe because of the earthquakes, it created a hole where a water reserve was in and filled that up? It was common to find natural water reserves near lakes and rivers.

Lillian looked more excited than Emil, hoping to investigate the cave as much as possible since this _was _an once-in-a-lifetime to actually see a cave for the first time instead of books. The Mural Cavern didn't count since it was much of an adventure. But the paintings were very beautiful, especially since it was engraved in stone.

When they reached the lakebed of Sinoa, Lillian wandered around and looked around in wonder. "So this is what the lakebed looks like…I bet I can retrace my steps and head over to Luin." She began searching for any sign that the lake extended to Luin. It was a large lake and Luin was built on top of, if she were to find a path that led back to Luin then she could possibly create markings that can lead her back to the lakebed.

And if she made those markings then she could leave Luin without catching anyone's attention, she already found a place that led down to the lakebed in Luin and now she needed to be complete to find a path in the lakebed towards Luin.

She rubbed her chin.

It's weird.

There were howls but there wasn't a single monster in sight.

"_**D'AHHHHHH!**__"_

…_I spoke too soon._

Lillian immediately whirled around, turning to see Emil stumbling back as a brown bear-like monster with large canine fangs roared angrily. It was a Lucrezia. It was bear-like monster she read up in the books her father owned. And they acted like normal monsters, did it make it this place its territory? But then…where the hell did the wolf howl came from?

All of her questions suddenly turned blank when Emil made an attempt to dodge the attack only to stumble back and fall, she took out her sword and came straight at Emil. She literally threw herself in front of him, holding her blade up and blocking the incoming attack.

She held her ground, holding her sword as she bear realized she was retaliating and used more force.

"Get…" She gritted her teeth, sliding her food across to get a better stance, "Get up right now, Emil!"

Emil stared at her, his body shaking as he tried to gather his wits. "B-But…"

She turned to glare at him, "DON'T HESTIATE NOW! GET THE FUCK UP!" She snapped and returned her attention back to the bear.

Emil visibly flinched at her tone before he found his legs, stumbled as he got up and picked up his sword along the way. He ran away, stumbling around while Lillian had to jump back when the bear used his free claw to slash her. She glanced momentarily to see where Emil was and gave a sigh of relief when he was far enough for the bear to not turn his attention to him.

Now she had to kill this beast before it can kill her.

The bear wasted no chance and charged after her, Lillian quickly dodged but stumbled to her knees. She blindly swung her sword when she realized she was open from behind, "_DEMON FANG!_" She shouted, a shockwave ripped its way towards Lucrezia causing the bear to be thrown back for a moment.

Lillian swallowed her fear that she felt when she fell and stood up again.

"Lillian!"

Her eyes widened when she saw Emil coming towards her, "NO! YOU IDIOT!" She cursed loudly when the bear turned its attention to Emil.

The blond came to an immediate halt when the bear breathed out a airy growl and charged towards Emil, he stumbled backwards in attempt to escape but he was too late.

It was already after him.

Emil tried to run backwards, the same way Lillian could but he nearly ended up stumbling. "N-No!" He tried to hold his sword up to block the incoming attack as the bear held up his claws to slash him.

He screwed his eyes shut and awaited for his demise until he felt his body suddenly shoved to the side roughly. His breath was practically knocked out of his lungs as he was thrown a good distance away.

He yelped when he came crashing to the ground, his sword knocked out from his hands. Emil turned to see what just happened only for his eyes to widen when he saw a body flying in mid-air after being struck like some rag doll, crashing and sliding across the stony ground without any remorse before coming to a full stop near a rock. And it wasn't moving.

His eyes widened in horror.

_She wasn't moving._

"LILLIAN!" He shouted, grabbing his sword and ran as fast as he could towards the unconscious girl.

Blood matted her arm, her shirt was ripped from the claws and blood trickled from them. He fell to his knees and tried to shake her awake, "Wake up, Lillian! Open your eyes!" He shouted. Fear took ahold of his mind as he stared at the girl in horror.

She took the hit meant for him.

_It was his fault_.

A growl came from the bear, its hot breath can been be visibly seen. It slowly dragged itself towards them, Emil's eyes widened until he heard a groan from the fallen girl. He inhaled sharply and turned towards Lillian who furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before opening her eyes.

"Lily!" He shouted, helping the girl up as she staggered to sit up.

"Goddammit…" She swore under her breath, wincing as she held her arm which immediately starting bleeding. Did the bear managed to land a hit on her? She snorted, mentally chiding herself for looking so uncool in front of Emil.

She turned to the blond, "Emil, you need to escape."

"Wh—No, I can't leave you here."

She shook her head, forcing a smile. "No, it's okay. I'll be fine in my own! You need to escape right now Emil, I won't guarantee your safety."

"But…"

He looked down for a moment, his hands trembled slightly before he clenched them tightly. He firmly shook his head, "No! I won't leave you! I don't care but I'll never leave you behind!" He snapped, immediately standing up and turning towards the bear who growled lowly. "That guy said that I need courage, and watching you…you had more courage than I do. That's why, it's my turn to show the courage I have too."

She looked surprised, "…Emil…"

He shakily lifted his sword, Lillian could never see his hands trembling. She gritted her teeth.

_The idiot…!_

The bear came towards Emil, raising his claws up to attack him. Emil immediately screwed his eyes shut while holding his sword out in a defensive position. This was it. He was going to die. He was going to die like this.

"_WATCH OUT!"_

A voice cried from the trees, Lillian turned to see someone spinning out from the trees and landing a hit behind the bear. It came to shock to her on how quickly the person moved, the bear suddenly toppled over to the ground unconscious.

The person was kneeling on the ground for a moment before sheathing her weapon—a spinner. She looked up, revealing really beautiful blue eyes. She had maple hair and two white flower accessories. All in all, she looked really cute.

The girl stood up and looked at Emil for a moment before landing her eyes on Lillian who was still on the ground bleeding, she approached the fallen girl and knelt down. Hovering a hand over her, she closed her eyes in concentration. "…_First aid._" A warm glow covered Lillian's arm and stomach.

It felt tingly as her wounds began healing but it didn't fully restore her wounds, the girl fished out some apple gels and bandages and began fixing her arm and chest up.

"There, that should do it." The girl muttered in approval with a nod.

Lillian blinked for a moment, looking at her bandaged arm. "Th-Thank you…" She stuttered out.

The girl gave her a smile before standing up, turning towards Emil and observed him wordlessly. She shifted her weight for a moment and looked ready to talk until a breathy growl came from behind Emil, they whirled towards the monster which was slowly staggering up.

She clicked her tongue, "It's not over yet!" She muttered and took on a defensive stand. "You. Are you going fight or run?"

Emil fumbled for words, the girl gave a hard sidelong glance to him. "You're a man! Come on, speak up!" She demanded, eyeing the movements of the bear.

He paused staring at her for a moment then towards Lillian who was still recovering, she nodded her head wordlessly. He looked down for a moment.

"_Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality."_

He clenched his fists and tightened his grip on his sword, he looked up and stepped forward with a determined gleam in his eyes. "I'll…I'll fight!"

"Okay." She smirked and followed his movements. "Then I'll leave the frontlines to you." With that, she unsheathed her spinner.

At that, they both immediately darted forward. Lillian looked helpless for a moment, her arm was still aching and her sword was too close to the monster, it was dangerous for her to run into the fight unarmed and injured. Emil looked pretty serious for once, despite his clumsy attempts to attack he managed to land decent hits at least.

The girl backed him up, moving fast with her kicks and slashes to stun the bear before moving back to let Emil to attack as well. He swung his sword and recoiled at times from the vibrations the blade left when he attacked the bear.

The bear swung his arms around, Emil stumbled back as it grazed his arm.

"Ouch!" He held his arm, glancing at the cut which oozed out blood.

The maple haired girl glanced at him and immediately channeled her power, concentrating as a runic circle flashed and glowed underneath her. She held her spinner, her hair wafted along with the energy she was emitting. "_Oh healing power…_" She chanted then lifted up her spinner in sky. The same light appeared as mini-orbs, escaping her spinner. "_First aid!_"

The orbs vanished in thin air, then reappeared as warm green light that surrounded Emil's body, healing his cut and closing the wounds. "Th-Thanks!" He called out, the girl nodded her head and went to attack.

They both had the same thing in mind when they attacked, make sure it was distracted and it didn't come after Lillian who was helpless right now. Emil spotted Lillian's sword and picked it up, he turned to the girl. "Lillian!" He shouted, throwing her sword into the air.

Lillian yelped and crawled backwards when the sword landed between her legs, stabbing the ground. "What the f—!" Her heart was beating fast, she turned to glare at Emil. "Excuse me, injured person here! You expect me to go all epic and grab the sword as it flew? Think again!" She barked.

Emil sheepishly scratched his head before shouting, dodging another attack.

"Don't lose focus now!" The girl called from behind as she jumped over the bear, spinning the same way she did when she came from the trees. Emil's eyes widened as she could see her face, it was smiling slightly as she slashed the bear. "Now!"

Emil took a moment to recover from staring at the girl before came towards the bear which was already stumbling and stabbed it in the chest. The bear let out an agonized groan as it fell backwards, Emil pulled out the sword and stood there with wide eyes on what he had done.

The honey-brown haired girl stood up with the help of the girl who came out from the trees, she playfully smacked him on the shoulders. "Congratulations, you just killed your first monster!" She chirped, trying to lighten up the mood despite nearly dying back there.

He turned around, lowering his sword. "I…no, wait. Are you okay, Lily?"

"Fit as a fiddle, don't worry about me." She moved her arm around to show him, "See?"

The girl retracted her spinner with a bright smile, "There, Good work!" She looked over to Emil and Lillian, "It's pretty dangerous here, so you two better get going. Especially since she needs some medical attention later on, okay?" She paused suddenly, realizing who she was talking to and took a double-take.

Lillian eyed Emil and the girl for a moment, wondering what caught her attention. Was there another monster…?

"It's you!"

Emil panicked, "Eh? Wh-What?"

She blinked, walking towards him with disbelief. "You don't—you don't remember me, do you?" She sounded surprised there, the girl looked him up and down and from side to side. Then muttered to herself, "Maybe I'm wrong. But you look just like him…" She trailed away.

"Wha…" He stepped back, feeling very awkward with her close distance. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head, offering an apologetic smile. "It's nothing, I'm sorry. Anyways, you should leave here as soon as you can, okay? So…" She looked at him and Lillian before nodding her head in a polite goodbye, turning around to head off.

"W-Wait a minute!" He blurted out, holding out his hand to the girl as she started to leave.

The girl paused mid-step and turned around, tilting her head. "What is it? I'm in a hurry." She tried to sound polite but urgent.

Emil looked down for a moment, mulling over what to say before looking at the girl fully. "I…I wanted to thank you for saving me—I mean, us. My name is Emil. So, um, what's your name?"

She seemed to think about this before turning fully to him, "I'm Marta. What else?" She placed her hands behind her back, waiting patiently. Lillian gave her points for actually staying and waiting instead of going 'Oh I'm Marta, 'kay bye.' And then leave Emil eating her dust. If she was her then she would literally lash out if they were stalling.

She needed to learn how to wait patiently for once.

"I-If it's dangerous here then maybe you should leave too." He explained, Lillian had to bite back a smile. Aw, he was caring.

Marta watched him for a moment before slowly looking down in thought, her cheeks colored a nice shade of pink as she fidgeted in place. "If it gets dangerous, will you save me again?" She tilted her head.

Lillian pressed her lips together to prevent her giggles to escape her mouth. Was she developing a crush on Emil already? She scratched her head to stop herself from breaking out in loud giggles and swooning over how cute people in love were. She glanced over to Emil who had the _same reaction as Marta_.

He turned away, his cheeks dusted red on his tan skin. "But you were the one kind enough to save me…" He trailed away, scratching his head.

"I need to kick something." Lillian muttered under her breath, trying to stop herself from smiling so widely at the development. Marta clearly is starting to like Emil and her blushy expression is winning Emil's heart as well. She took deep breathes to prevent herself from screaming 'NOW KISS!' out loudly.

The awkward dorks looked around awkwardly before Marta giggled out, feeling the awkward. "You don't remember, do you? I'm sorry to confuse you." She nodded her head, "B-But I really need to get going. So, take care of yourself, Emil!" She smiled so brightly, her voice raising octaves and going in a fast-pace like a fangirl in front of their idol. Lillian hummed to herself.

When she turned around, Lillian spotted a red jewel-like marking on her forehead. Both Emil and Lillian tilted their heads to take a good look on the red jewel marking they both saw.

"A red jewel on her forehead…" He muttered out,

Lillian squinted her eyes, "…Doesn't Richter want that?" She whispered to herself in wonder, tapping on her chin.

Emil stared at the place where Marta left before turning to Lillian, blinking when he realized that the conversation actually happened. Lillian bit back her comment when he looked a little love-struck there, "I wonder if that guy is still in town. He'll probably be happy if I tell him about that girl, Marta." He seemed to smile at that thought, "It's strange though. She seemed like she knew me. Have I met her before? I think I'd remember a cute girl like her."

He blushed slightly at remember Marta. Lillian pressed her lips together again. _How cute._

"She must be confusing me with someone else. Yeah, must be." His flushed expression didn't leave his face causing her to finally erupt into high-pitched giggles. He turned to look at Lillian in question, "What is it?"

Lillian snickered, "You are…a _doooork_!" She flicked his forehead playfully, he flinched.

"Ow!"

She giggled before placing a hand to her cheek, "'Oh, I think I'd remember a cute girl like her. Teehee.'" She mimicked Emil's look before laughing out loudly, "How cute. I never thought I'd see the day when you would actually develop a crush! On Marta no less!"

"Wh-Wh-What!?"

"Amazing! I never expected that the Prince of this fairy tale would fall in love with his own knight in shining spinner! Plot twist! This is better than any novel I've read!" She rubbed her chin with her eyes twinkling in joy. "I can just see it! I can feel it! Marta riding her white horse wielding her spinner, coming to save and take you, the Don in Distress, to your happily ever after!"

"_LILY!"_

She nudged him playfully, "You little rascal, developing a crush on Marta like that. So sudden! But then again, she is…'a cu~te girl'." She teased.

"Lily! Stop it! I don't have a crush on her!" He protested.

Lillian rolled her eyes, "Oh shush, you so do. Oh wait…" She eyed him mischievously, "Maybe…you want this to be a secret? Expected. Don't let the girl know until you flirted with her enough that she's practically swooning over you. But that won't take much effort for you, you little fox."

"But I don't—I—I don't even…" He spluttered out a reply before sighing out sharply, walking past her with a red face. "W-We better get going!"

Lillian snickered to herself, "Comin' Casanova. Amazing how you managed to capture her heart too, just with a few words! And they're just stutters and the whole atmosphere was awkward. I wonder if she digs guys like you, those that are comparable to puppies."

"Can we drop this, please?!"

"Nah, it's love. It can never be dropped."

"Then can we stop talking about this?"

"Hmm…"

"…"

"…Nah."

Emil groaned out, hanging in his head in defeat. Lillian hummed to herself with a smirk before smacking Emil's back harshly, "Oh don't look so down at this! Be happy that you finally have a crush! Especially since its cute girl who doesn't hate you."

He spared her an exasperated glance.

"You little—what are you doing here?!" A familiar voice immediately made them look up in shock. Alba was standing there holding a spear and looked pissed off as ever, a couple of town guards were behind him holding the same weapon as Alba did.

His glare was dark and filled with malice towards Emil, she could practically feel it vibe. Emil shrunk back, lowering her head. "I'm sorry…"

Then his gaze landed on Lillian, it widened in shock before it morphed into complete anger. "You…You brought _Lillian_ with you?! You little brat! Do you want our family to get in trouble because you brought Lillian along with your little damn trip and got her injured?!" He snapped.

He looked up, eyes wide as he shook his head. "N-No, that's…"

"You just have to go out of your way to cause trouble. Thanks to your little grudge against Lloyd the great, there are rumors that our family's secretly supporting the Vanguard." He barked out, his grip on his weapon tightened like he was ready to smack Emil with it.

The blond boy just lowered his head, she could see him trembling as he winced at his tone. Lillian lowered her head, her hands were clenched into tight fists as she practically tried to hold her anger.

"Just go home and keep your mouth shut! When I get home, so help me—"

"It's not his fault."

Emil looked up sharply while Alba and the guards turned to the petite girl who was staring at the ground. She looked up, smiling as brightly as she could. Emil just stared at her sugary sweet smile, that same smile she gave to that old man in the general store.

It was a fake smile.

…Somehow that smile scared him.

"I'm sorry, sir! It's not his fault! It's mine." She made sure to make her voice was sweet, girly, and innocent as possible. "I wanted to help everyone since you all looked so _troubled_ with the monsters, I thought that I would go investigate using Emil as my bait. I'm sorry if I caused any trouble to you, I just…" She sniffed here, lowering her head. "W-Wanted to help. I didn't know it would bring you so much trouble, sir."

Alba and the guards soften their gaze, exchanging looks to one another for a moment.

Emil's uncle looked between them, "It's fine, Lillian. It's just…" He eyed her injuries.

Lillian forced out a high-pitched giggle, "Oh, it's okay, sir! I just fell and stuff." She shrugged her shoulders. "You know me, I'm careless."

Alba was silent for a moment before nodding his head, "…All right, but our conversation is not over yet, boy." He glared at Emil before gesturing the soldiers to follow him. They nodded their heads and followed Alba, brushing past Emil and nodding their heads to Lillian while flashing a smile.

The said girl waved towards them, "Take good care, sirs!" She called out until they were a good distance away.

Silence loomed between the two of them, Emil stared at his shoes with great interest. He briefly looked at Lillian who was staring at the guards with an unreadable expression, he looked away to think of what to say then looked up again.

"…Um, Lily?"

She wordlessly turned her heel and grabbed Emil's hand, his eyes widened as she began dragging him across the lakebed and towards the exit without saying anything. Emil could feel her tight grip but he didn't say anything, he was scared that she might lash out for not standing up again.

He lowered his head. Now Alba knew that Lillian was with him, this'll really bring trouble for her.

They spend the whole trek out of the lakebed and up the slopes wordlessly until Lillian stopped when they were near the normal pathway towards Luin. Emil was silent before looking at her honey brown hair, "…Lily?"

She was silent until her shoulders shook. His eyebrows flew up. Was she that angry…?

Then suddenly, she began laughing out so loud and hard she had to hold her stomach. Emil jolted at her sudden laugh, pulling away from the girl as she nearly fell over from laughing so much. Lillian had tears in her eyes as she continued to laugh until her stomach started to hurt from laughing so hard.

"Lily…?" He muttered out, worried and wondering what just happened to her. Did she snap?

Lillian laughed and even snorted, she wiped her tears away. "Ah…that was a good one."

"Wh…What's so funny?"

"My little act! Wow, I can't believe they fell for that!" She suddenly looked all innocent and girly, batting her eyelashes rapidly. "'I wanted to help everyone because you all looked so _troubled_ with the monsters. I'm sorry to cause you trouble. Boohoo.'" She immediately broke out into laughter again.

"Rich! So rich! Everyone is suckers for the innocent act!" She snorted, covering her mouth to tame her laughter but she continued to laugh until her stomach starting aching again. Her laughs slowly died into giggles as she turned to Emil, "Are you okay?"

Emil stared at her before looking down, bowing his head. His hands were curled into fists, trembling from what…fear? Terror? She didn't know.

He looked up to her, "What should I do? Uncle Alba was really angry. I…I wonder if he'll hit me again…" He looked distressed, shrinking back and whimpering softly. "What should I do? I don't want that. I'm scared."

Lillian pressed her lips together. If Alba lays even one finger on Emil, he's really going to be killed by her, no joke. She curled her hands together, glaring to one side. But maybe, this wouldn't happen if she convinced Emil to stay behind and she'll go investigate herself. Maybe if she talked him out from going out at all then…he wouldn't be in trouble with his uncle.

"I really should have just ignored that monster's howl." He paused then suddenly, his eyebrows creased together as he practically glared at Lillian but not exactly _at _Lillian. "If only Lloyd hadn't attacked Palmacosta, I wouldn't be going through this!"

Lillian froze, her eyes wide. Emil noticed her expression and looked worried, "Is something wrong?"

"…Palmacosta…?" She muttered, staring at Emil with eyes filled with disbelief.

He felt uncomfortable with her stare, "…Lily?"

The girl was silent for a moment, her eyes darting away from his eyes like she was trying to remember something but she shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I was just spacing out there." She smiled, "If jerkface—I mean Alba tries to hurt you, tell me. I'll knock him out and take you into my home instead!"

His eyebrows raised up, "But…wouldn't that be considered kidnapping?"

Lillian opened her mouth to retort but she looked away, pressing her knuckles to her lips. "You're right…hmm…an over…extended sleepover. Yup, that's a great way to put it!" She snapped her fingers with a grin, "An overextended sleepover!"

He couldn't help but crack a smile when she started smiling so excitedly. And then she had this glint in her eyes he immediately knew it was trouble.

"We could even invite Marta."

He groaned and sighed at the same time, "Not this again."

"Yes this again. You make it like you having a crush on Marta is nonexistent."

"I-It is!"

She rolled her eyes, "Says your head. You just don't wanna admit it!"

"Lily!"

She froze suddenly which surprised Emil when he followed behind her. He was ready to open his mouth to ask what's wrong until Lillian whirled around, looking distressed as she ran towards Emil and grabbed his shoulder with a panicked look.

"This is terrible, Emil!" She cried,

He panicked at her panicked look, "Wh-What's wrong?!"

Her lips quivered as she bowed her head, "I've failed you as a friend."

"H-H-Huh?!"

"I…I…" She began, her body trembled. "I don't know which looks better on you! A black suit or a white one for your and Marta's wedding!"

…

…

…

"_**L-LILLIAN!**_"

**-x-**

"…Um, Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine. I'm really fine, I feel as fine as eve—who am I kidding?"

Lillian covered her face and let out an over exaggerated cry of agony and despair, sometimes sobbing here and there. Halfway to Luin, she just remembered about her uncle who is going to have a cow…no, a sheep. Dammit, no! He was going to have the whole damn herd! He probably lost all of his hair when she didn't return like an hour ago. He was a man around his thirties and he was going to have a heart attack at a young age because of her.

"I'm going to die an early death, Emil! By my own uncle who isn't even my uncle! Murdered in cold-blood!" She screamed out in another exaggerated cry of agony. "All because I didn't tell uncle I was going to be out for a long time."

Emil blinked for a moment, trying to see why the situation was bad. "…But from what I have seen, the mayor is a very understanding person."

She snorted, "Hah, understanding! Good one." Lillian blew harshly on her stray hair, "Understanding my foot. He hardly listens to my excuses now, if I goof off them its instant punishment for me. The worst thing he could do is lock myself in a room and force me to read a book I've read over and over again. I'd die of boredom."

"…Then, why don't you try leaving?"

"Mm, been there, done that. I once broke a window with a stool because I couldn't take the silence anymore, it took a group of guards to actually find and restrain me." She eyed Emil for a moment, "Emil, have you even heard about my reputation in Luin?"

He paused for a moment before shaking his head. Lillian found herself laughing hard at his naivety, "You need to read up on the laws, m'boy!" She patted his back harshly again, Emil staggered forward at her strength then rubbed his head.

In all honesty, he expected Lillian to be much more calm, mature, and poised since the villagers talked animatedly about how petite she was, how she lived up to her name, and other things like that. That's why it came to a surprise that she could curse like a sailor, had no sense of sympathy for those who angers her, and how rowdy she could get. Like the time when his uncle was shouting at him, if he didn't stop her then she might actually commit murder without a second thought.

But her straightforward and laid-back attitude was the reason why he didn't feel restrained, she was really friendly to a fault.

"But here's another warning, Emil. I'm a terrible cook."

Emil looked up to her, raising an eyebrow. "You can't be that bad, Lily."

She snorted again, "I don't think so, the law says I'm not."

"…The law?"

"Yup, the law. One time, there was this festival so the villagers requested me to cook for them some soup and naturally, I couldn't deny them." She said, "Of course, they provided me with the materials I need to cook. So here I was, cooking in a pot in the fireplace outside of Luin. Thankfully no one was around so I just winged it and threw in some vegetables and meat. Apparently there was an ingredient in the mix that I wasn't supposed to add…and then some of the ingredients fell…"

Emil didn't like where the conversation was going.

"And so, apparently there was this massive explosion and there was a wild forest fire. Luckily, some elves were around and starting casting spread and other water based attacks." She laughed heartily, "And now I'm forever banned from cooking!"

He deadpanned at her light-hearted reaction, "Wait, how do you even cause an explosion through making _soup_"

She shrugged, "I have no idea, I still wonder through this day. But the best thing about not being able to cook is that I can actually use my terrible abilities to threaten people and bend them to my will." She gave a smug smile. "So I have no reason to be depressed that I can't cook."

Sighing out loudly, he couldn't help but smile on how proud she looked on not being able to cook. He didn't know people could react that way, then again, she really did looked at the positive aspects of all of her flaws.

"AAAGH! WE'RE NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF LUIN!" Emil jumped at her sudden outburst. Lillian held her head, hopping up and down. "I AM PANICKING RIGHT NOW! I. AM. _PANICKING!_"

As they approached Luin, Lillian was sweating. Her hands felt wet and cold, the mayor was ruthless with punishments despite being a very nice man. Especially since she actually forgot all about her errands she was supposed to run after visiting the inn, and to top it off, her uncle had no idea where she is by now. And now she was coming back with her arm bandaged up.

Lovely.

As soon as they reached Luin, there was no sign of any guards which made her sigh a breath of relief. She was now hiding behind Emil, looking around suspiciously while heading off to the Mayor's building where Richter might be located. He did enter that building before they actually left Luin and hopefully, he was still there doing his business—knowing how busy the mayor was with his job. But the only problem was that she needed to face the mayor after disappearing for a really long time.

Lillian was practically shaking when they stood in front of the building while she practically clung onto Emil like he was her only source of support.

"Wh-Wh-What are you w-w-w-waiting for?" She laughed nervously, "G-G-Go in already, E-E-E-Emil."

Emil turned to her, worried. "Um, Are you sure? You're shaking."

"N-N-N-Never better! Aha…ha…haha…"

"…Maybe you should make a lie?"

"Like what? 'Oh Uncle, I'm sorry for not BEING HERE FOR THE PAST HOUR AND THIRTY MINUTES because I was at Emil's house and I lost track of time. Teehee.' Excuse me, but isn't that suspicious?" She frowned,

They bickered for a moment, mostly with Lillian doing the bickering and Emil trying to pacify her ranting before they actually entered the mayor's home. The elderly man who ran the general store noticed the two entering the building but didn't comment when they slowly approached the stairs to the mayor's office above. It actually surprised him when they suddenly started fighting on who would go up the stairs first until Emil actually pushed Lillian up.

Emil did something _first_ for once.

Lillian peered over the railings of the stairs only to spot two people talking to each other, "…Oi, Emil. Uncle got a visitor." She stage-whispered,

Emil lifted his head, following Lillian as they peered at the two of them. "It's the guy that's looking for Marta…"

"I guess he's really searching for her if he's asking the mayor some questions."

They both slowly and carefully approached the two, the mayor was listening carefully to Richter talk before the red haired man seemed to notice the two approaching them. Emil seemed to look up before slowly looking down, avoiding their eye contact while Lillian just fidgeted and looked around like she was avoiding something.

"Hm, Emil." He acknowledged, "Lillian."

At her name, Lillian stiffened. The mayor's eyes immediately widened as he practically whirled over to Lillian, the said girl immediately flinched and cowered in fear.

"_LILLIAN ADAMANT!_" He roared,

"Y-Y-Y-YES!" She stood up straight and squeaked out in fear, sweat rolling down her forehead like bullets.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE PAST MORNING?!" He snapped, glaring at the petite girl with the most parental gaze he could muster.

She lowered her head in shame, "Um…"

"Well?!"

Lillian laughed nervously, "Haha, f-funny story. Um, well, I—um, went…out of Luin?"

There was a silence between the four of them. She fidgeted, feeling very uncomfortable in the silence—especially since Emil and Richter were watching them in silence. The atmosphere was so awkward, she wanted to crawl under her bed and live there for the rest of her life.

"You…went out of Luin?" His tone was dangerously quiet, "You went out of _LUIN_?! Without _MY _permission?! Please don't tell me you went off because you heard about the monster activity."

"…Haha, f-funny story…"

"I don't know what to do with you anymore, Lillian. You're just like your father, both of you so stubborn and hardly listened to anyone." He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing out loudly.

Lillian bowed her head, "I'm sorry, uncle. I was just…I didn't want to leave Emil behind unprotected." She pressed her lips together in shame, she didn't want him to worry. She was sixteen for crying out loud! She could take care of herself.

The mayor sighed out again before patting her head affectionately, "Just…don't do that again. Tell me if you're going anywhere or you won't come home for a few hours. I'm worried you might end up getting in trouble again."

She wordlessly nodded her head.

"And we'll check out your wound later, so don't worry." He turned to Emil this time, "So, Emil. You know Richter?"

Emil glanced between Lillian and the other two adults, "Uh…well…"

"I asked him earlier about Marta's whereabouts." He said, folding his arms together.

The mayor nodded his head, rubbing his beard. "I see…" He eyed Lillian, "And perhaps you've met Lillian in the inn?"

"Correct."

The honey-brown haired girl looked up slightly before gently jabbing Emil with her elbow, he looked over to Lillian who didn't even look at him but she gestured to Richter with a small and unnoticeable nod. If he didn't look at her carefully then he would have probably missed her nod.

"Um, R-Richter?" He looked up to the ginger haired man who looked at him with those piercing green eyes of his. He shuffled on how intense his stare was.

"What?" He said curtly.

Emil looked down, feeling intimidated by his piercing stare. "Well, the girl with the red jewel on her forehead. Um, well, I…"

Like a switch, Richter practically stormed over to Emil and grabbed him by the shoulders. He shook him, not even caring that Emil jolted and looked completely terrified by his fierce stare. The blond screws his eyes shut at being shaken, feeling a bit nauseated.

"You saw Marta?!" He barked,

"Y-Y-Yes!" He managed to spit out, "Um…uh, well—y-you see…!"

Lillian was in a mixture of wanting to stop this at the same time she had to hold back from laughing. She felt cruel that she was entertained by the whole scene, but in all honesty, her point of view looked really wrong. Like Richter was…towards Emil…

She couldn't say anything more. Lillian just turned her head, muffling her quiet snickers with the palm of her hand.

"Hurry up and tell me!" He shouted again, shaking him again in impatience.

Emil was seriously traumatized right now, trying to say something to stop him but his fear held down his voice. "U-uh, w-well…!"

The mayor quickly acted, separating the two apart and looked into Emil's eyes. "Emil, calm down and explain what you saw." Unlike Richter, he calmly asked. Emil looked over to the mayor, disheveled before he nodded his head rapidly.

"L-Lake Sinoa! Where the monsters come out. J-Just before…" He was running out of breath from trying to explain, still shaken up from what just transpired.

"Enough!" Richter snapped, sighing out sharply.

Emil whimpered at his harsh tone, closing his eyes tightly at being cut off. Lillian patted his head in an attempt to soothe him from the whole 'Richter shaking up Emil', and that actually sounded wrong in her head. Sometimes she wondered if she would take a serious situation seriously for once.

But seriously, Richter shaking Emil looked really wrong in her point of view—like really _wrong_.

Richter took a moment to calm down before turning over to the mayor, "Mayor. I'd like to take Emil with me." He automatically turned to Emil, "Emil, can I count on you to take me where you saw Marta?"

Emil hesitantly nodded his head, "Y…Y-Yeah…but…" He turned to Lillian who just smiled at Emil, gesturing him to be brave.

The ginger haired warrior took a moment, studying Lillian before nodding his head. "All right. Mayor, I'll be taking Lillian with me as well." He looked back towards the mayor who looked as surprised as Lillian was right now.

She did a fist-pump in the background while the mayor just stared at Richter like he grew another head, "I understand Emil but Lillian…" He glanced at Lillian who was practically cheering at the fact she was getting out of Luin again. He understood how much she wanted to leave the towns as much as she can but…he nodded his head. "All right but if you take Lillian, you must protect her at all costs. She's very reckless during danger."

"Excuse me!" She gave a mocked hurt expression, "When did _I_ get in trouble? I'm too brilliant to get in trouble."

Everyone just stared at her in silence, not believing her by the second.

Richter nodded his head, looking at Lillian and Emil one final time before brushing past them.

When he finally went downstairs, Lillian practically tackled the mayor into a tight hug and screamed in complete joy. "YES! YES! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, UNCLE!" She cried, practically jumping up and down.

The mayor was stunned for a moment before smiling, patting her head as she rubbed her face against his chest. "Once you have an opportunity to go out of a city, you automatically jump on it. You're very stubborn when you make your decisions."

Lillian grinned brightly, "That's why you love me." She stood on her tippy-toes and pecked his cheek, "I'm going to meet Richter downstairs! C'mon Emil!" She patted the blond who watched her as she practically slid down the railings of the stairs.

There was a loud bang and a shout of 'HELL YEAH!'.

The mayor just sighed, "That girl doesn't know when to calm down." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Emil, they're both very determined about this so take Richter to where you saw the girl. But, be careful of the monsters along the way, okay? Make sure Lillian isn't in any danger."

Emil looked up the mayor and wordlessly nodded his head. The mayor stared at Emil intently, Emil felt very uncomfortable that the mayor was staring at him and quickly looked away in both embarrassment and fear. The mayor was an understanding man and he didn't know what the mayor thought of him personally.

What felt like minutes was actually just a few seconds, the mayor nodded his head wordlessly. "…Emil, right now, I trust you with Lillian. I trust you. I just hope you don't prove me otherwise. Protect Lillian, all right?"

Emil looked up, seeing the mayor's eyes which stared deeply into his own. He could see the amount of trust he was placing on him and it felt like a large weight on his shoulders, the mayor loved Lillian like his own daughter and he was placing his trust on the person who was dubbed as the reason the lake dried up and the recent monster activity.

He was a large weight but he was willing to bear it. He nodded his head, "Y…Yes."

He was willing to bear that sudden responsibility for her, she did save his life at the near cost of her own.

It was the least he could do for her.

**-x-**

**A/N: I was pretty much listening to a bunch of Tales of Symphonia and Puella Magi Madoka music when I wrote this. Especially the fighting scene, I so happened to listen to Absolute Configuration from the Puella Magi Madoka Movie: Rebellion. This will be the official song for ever epic fighting scene I will ever write, it's really fitting!**

**I decided not to fully copy the game and changed it around for purposes. Like the dialogue? Yeah, I was listening to the Japanese Version of the game and translated the dialogue to the ones I understood myself.**

**Marta is my waifu when I listen to the Japanese version, she's so cute. "E-MI-RU-! *insert heart here*"**

**Skits are still here, there won't be titles but I'll mention them through Lillian's jokes or something. **


	4. Lessons with Richter

**A/N: Hiro Shimono makes Emil sound the best hands down. Johnny Young Bosch is great at making Emil sound meek and it makes me melt. But I love how Hiro Shimono and Johnny Young Bosch play as Almaz from Disgaea 3, especially since Almaz looks _just like Emil_ with the Ahoge and the scarf and the adorable meek personality I am gone good bye friends.**

**_RIP Luna: Died by the hands of Hiro Shimono's voice saying 'onee-chan' in a cute way. I'm weak to adorably submissive guys like Almaz and Emil I'm dead._**

**Without further ado, here's chapter four!**

**-x-**

**Chapter Four: Lessons with Richter**

**-x-**

Emil left the mayor's home only to see Richter holding out his hand towards Lillian, a magic circle appeared briefly in his hand before fading into nothing. The light suddenly appeared once again, glowing brightly at the places where here injuries were still at. Some of the bruises that Marta didn't heal were now fading away, the discoloration turning into its normal fleshy hue. It took a moment before the glow started to fade away, leaving a rather soothing tingly feeling behind.

The bandages that were originally wrapped around her arm and stomach were gone, maybe Richter removed them earlier on.

"Thanks, Richter!" She beamed, looking up to the older male.

He nodded his head curtly, "It would be a problem if your wounds reopen once we head out."

For the corner of her eyes, Lillian noticed Emil standing there. She raised a hand, "Hey, Emil! You took awhile, did uncle say anything to you?"

Emil paused for a moment before he shook his head, "A-Ah, um…n-not really. He just told me to be careful since we're going to a monster infested area." He scratched his head before realizing Richter was staring at him with his arms crossed, his fingers tapping on his arm. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I'm ready now."

Richter spared a glance to him, "You apologize too much. If you want to become a dog so badly, I won't stop you."

He panicked, wondering if he did something wrong and did the first thing that came into his mind. "E-er, I'm sorr—! Oh."

…

…

He slouched, "I'm sorry…"

"How cute," Lillian muttered under her breath, laughing quietly.

Richter sighed, shaking his head. "Enough apologizing. Anyways, I'm sorry for surprising you earlier." He muttered that last part more quietly, turning around and headed towards the exit of Luin.

Emil looked amazed, staring at Richter with wide eyes. "…Richter…"

The petite girl watched Richter as he approached the wooden bridge leading to the exit of Luin, watching his form and how he moved. Even Emil stared at Richter's retreating form. He was a strict and bitter person but at least he was nice enough to apologize on what he had done earlier.

If he really wasn't that nice then he wouldn't waste a breath on apologizing. He's a good person…but there something about him she couldn't quite put her finger on. She crossed her arms, squinting her eyes to stare at him.

…Was it his hair?

"Richter…he's a strange person."

Lillian turned towards Emil who was still staring at Richter, she didn't even realized he was talking to her for a moment. "That's true, but maybe…he's those type of people that don't really know how to admit what they really feel so they come off as bitter." She shrugged. "But he looks mean in all honesty."

"You think so? I think he's very nice."

She snorted, "Don't let him hear that. He might actually snap or something."

"What are you two waiting for? Hurry up and take me to where you saw Marta." His curt voice pierced the calm atmosphere of Luin, they both jumped and quickly scrambled over to Richter before he would really get angry and blow up or something.

Lillian ended up ramming into Emil when he suddenly stopped next to Richter, her forehead smacking into the back of Emil. It was so sudden that Lillian literally fell on her posterior, rubbing her aching nose from slamming into Emil. She didn't even _see _him there.

"Ow! Damn!" She hissed, "Today just loves hurting me."

Emil whirled around in a panic, "I-I'm so sorry, Lily!" He cried, scrambling over and holding out his hand towards him.

Richter pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

She rubbed her nose while Emil pulled her up, "Yup, I'm fine. Be thankful that Richter healed me or I'd be cursing up a storm."

He apologized again as they crossed the bridge but Lillian just pinched his nose before he could say another apology and threatened to drag him to the lakebed just by his nose. Of course, Emil apologized _again _and it nearly caused her to pick up Emil and flung him over the bridge but she wasn't that mean so she settled for grabbing his nose for a long time.

Soon enough, Emil began lagging behind while Lillian was kicking the stones since she had nothing better to do. It was entertain to kick stones but sometimes she ended up kicking them hard which end up hitting Richter, the said man turned around to see who the culprit was. Lillian just looked to the side innocently, ignoring Richter's intimidating stare and just pretended she was just staring at something lazily.

"Hey," His green eyes landed on Emil who was walking slowly, "Don't fall behind."

Emil jumped in surprise, "O-oh, y-yes! I'm sorry." He ran to catch up with Richter, ending up walking much fast than Lillian and Richter. The honey brown haired girl just pressed her lips together again, watching in amusement.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing walking in front of me?"

He flushed red in embarrassment, immediately slowing. "Y-Yes! I'm sorry." He slowed down his pace and ended back where he was standing before.

"Hey."

Emil jumped again, "Y-Y-YES!" He yelped and shrunk back in shame, "I-I'm sorry…"

"Actually, I'm not angry with you."

Lillian pressed her knuckles to her mouth, laughing quietly to herself. "How cute," She snickered. The petite girl walked up to Richter while Emil tried his best to catch up while hanging his head in shame.

She glanced over to Richter, looking rather sly. "You know, you shouldn't be so mad."

"I'm not mad."

Snorting, she shrugged her shoulders. "You're not mad but you look mad. Mad, irritated, frustrated, they're all negative emotions. Continue to furrow your eyebrows like that then you'll get wrinkles early, Richter. You don't want to get old, do you?" She chirped before snickering to herself.

Richter gave her a look, frowning with a small grunt.

"You know, I really wanna befriend monsters." She said rather randomly as they crossed the bridge, leaving Luin. "I've read all about them in my monster book I had when I was little, my father gave it to me when I was curious about them."

They were walking down the dirt path towards the lakebed. Emil furrowed his eyebrows, "Why…would you want to befriend monsters?"

"Well, because I want to? Uh, I don't know what started it but I think it was when my mom…she managed to befriend a monster and I thought it was pretty cool." She said, "I think monsters are cool and cute, I helped a monster once, Mom told me this: 'The good you do for others is good you do for yourself' which is why I help out a lot." Her thoughts flew over to Ash, she wondered how what that guy doing now he was accompanying Bell until she would return.

"Was that why you came with me to the lakebed?" Emil said, Lillian nodded her head.

"So…" Richter looked at her with an eyebrow raised, "You mean that monsters could repay that kindness someday?"

Lillian turned to Richter with an 'are-you-kidding-me' look, "Wow, Richter. That's just terrible. Kindness where you expect something back is just plain terrible, I didn't know you thought so close mindedly." She sighed, shaking her head while clicking her tongue. "This is why people don't like you."

Richter's gaze narrowed, his eyebrow twitched slightly. Lillian laughed and patted his arm, "Don't get your panties in a twist, Richter. I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" She grabbed Emil's hand, "C'mon, let's go! Our monster luck might wear out…oh wait, if we have you then we're safe."

"You're…you're still hung up on that?" Emil muttered in disbelief.

She rolled her eyes, "Obviously, you're the monster lord. While Richter is the Sir Stiff, you're most trusted second-in-command. After all, he acts like a pole was shoved up his—"

"_Lillian."_

Lillian felt her hairs on body suddenly standing up. She turned to see Richter practically glaring at her with all the fury he could muster, she gave a nervous smile.

"Y…You know I was kidding right, Richter? Ha…haha…um…" Her eyes darted from place to place before she snapped her fingers, pointing at a random direction "Oh, what's that! I gotta check that out!" She said in an over exaggerated tone before running away.

Emil held out his hand, "L-Lillian!" He called out but she was already gone. He sighed, a sweatdrop rolling down his head. "…She's fast."

He heard a small grumble from Richter, Emil hesitantly turned his head. "Um…R-Richter?"

"What?" He said harshly,

He flinched at that tone, "U-Um…y-you won't…kill Lily, right?"

"Hmph."

With that, he walked away from Emil causing the blond to chase after them. He was worried about Lillian's health now.

**-x-**

When they reached the lakebed again, both Emil and Lillian were completely covered in dirt with Richter massaging his forehead. He already assumed Emil would be obedient and he automatically thought Lillian would be the same and this little quest would progress smoothly without any interruptions.

What he didn't expect was the fact Lillian was too eccentric for her own age. She was sixteen, two years away from being an adult and yet she acted like…this.

She was too blunt for her own good and blurted out anything that came into her mind. When they headed down to the lakebed, she was too busy chatting with Emil about her hobbies that she didn't watch where she was going and tripped over a _rock _and ended up dragging Emil down with her as they came tumbling down the slope like tumbleweeds.

Emil ended up landing on Lillian who was out of breath from the fall. Of course, Emil starting apologizing like there was no tomorrow and he seriously looked horrified on what he had done.

Lillian just brushed off his apologize with a smile, her eyebrow twitching from the pain that traveled around her body. She attempted to walk normally but ended up walking like her legs were jelly and brushed off every question regarding to her well-being.

"I'm fine!" Lillian brushed the tiny stones and dirt off from her hair, patting it down to tame it from its wild ride.

"Are…Are you sure?" He eyed her, looking at the red marks from the stones she fell on.

She snorted, waving her hand to dismiss him. "Psh, I had worse. Once, I jumped out of a window and landed in thorny bushes." Lillian wrinkled her nose, remembering the pain when Bell applied the ointment for her cuts which happen to burn like hell.

This time, Richter turned to her with a look, "…Why would you jump out of a window?"

"I don't like being in a room for a long time. I'm _very _uncomfortable without being in open spaces. But sleeping is another thing…" She trailed away before shaking her head, "Uncle knows my tendency on doing extreme measures to avoid something so in return, the told the guards to take extreme measures on capturing me."

Richter sighed out for umpteenth time, "The mayor had explained about your…tendencies."

She scowled, "…He did? I swear, that man is trying to raise my reputation. This must be the reason why the people of Luin think I'm doing something I'm not supposed to everyday." She crossed her arms, tapping her fingers on her arm before she tilted her head. She sighed, "…Hmm…I guess it's beneficial to the people. Eh, I don't care."

Lillian quickened her pace, looking around and noticed dry blood staining the ground. She cringed, unconsciously rubbing her arm before she pointed at the direction Marta went off to. "Over there, she was heading over there."

Richter's eyes seemly darkened, "…Over there, huh."

"Hm? What's wrong, Richter?" Emil glanced up at the taller man with a curious look. Richter stared at Emil for a moment before shaking his head curtly, a loud sigh escaped from him.

"Nothing important." With that, he left Emil looked a bit confused before he ran to catch up with Richter and Lillian who was walking in front of them.

While they approached the direction where the cave was, according to Emil, Lillian noticed a broken bridge that extended from one part of the lake to the other which was covered in green moss. It's been only a few months and whole lake looked like it was dried up for years, it was unexpected that Lake Sinoa would be affected with the climate changes.

She didn't know exactly what caused the strange occurrences but Ash told her it was because the world was adjusting since there was a new world tree being planted.

She learnt many things from Ash that others didn't really believe him since it was 'stupid' and 'didn't make sense'. She even wrote them down in a book since they were too interesting.

Emil was staring down, listening to their footsteps shuffling until he heard a sudden sharp gasp followed by a low growl. He looked up to see Lillian staring at some direction tensely, her hands curled into tight fists. Even Richter noticed her sudden change in demeanor.

"Lily?"

She didn't reply, but continued to glare darkly at something.

They turned to the direction where Lillian was glaring, Emil felt himself go pale.

It was Alba and the guards.

As if they heard their thoughts, Alba and the guards turned towards their direction. Their eyes widened before they all bristled in anger, Alba snarled. "Emil?! You came back again?! What's wrong with you?! Cut it out, you demonic little brat!"

"Hmph, expected of the Vanguard ally." The guard on the right of Alba snorted, glaring at Emil.

The guard of his left looked over at Alba with an eyebrow raised, "He may be your nephew but you really took in a pest." He gestured to Emil with his chin, his gaze on Lillian this time "He brought the little lady with him too!"

"You're dragging Lillian into this mess! You damn fool!" The another guard snapped, "How dare you bring her here?! Especially since you've _injured _her!"

Emil lowered his head in shame, "…I'm sorry."

Lillian made a move to lash out and defend Emil but Richter stepped forward, effectively cutting her off as he towered over Alba and the others. "Emil and Lillian are with me, I've received the mayor's permission to do so. Step aside."

Alba looked over at Richter, slightly intimidated by his stare and height. "The mayor?" He muttered out in disbelief, eyeing Emil and Lillian. "Even so…"

"Move!" He snapped,

Brownie points to the handsome red head named Richter, Lillian felt giddy at the fact Richter was telling them off in his own way. Especially since Richter has a really demanding and terrifying attitude and he didn't look like he was kidding around at all, it was great to see Richter lashing out on Alba and the others. She found a smile creeping up her face.

They all flinched, including Emil. Alba scrambled to move out of the way while Lillian wanted to clap her hands in joy. Richter strode towards the entrance of the cave before noticing that the teenagers weren't following him, he turned with an impatient expression.

"Why are you still loitering around? Oi, Emil, Lillian…are you listening?"

Lillian cheerfully raised her hand into the air, "Alright, alright! I'm comin'!" She sang and happily followed Richter, taking in the joy on seeing Alba's frightened look from earlier. Seeing frightened people are the best thing she loved seeing.

"E-Eh, wait!" Alba shouted suddenly, Lillian paused mid-step at his sudden shout. "There are monsters in there!"

"Yes, and what's wrong with that?"

Alba growled in irritation, "And I'm telling you its dangerous! Go if you want but leave Lillian and Emil with us." He gestured to Emil who was staring at his shoes and Lillian who was clearly scowling.

"I'm sorry but who said you were in-charge? Uncle specifically told me to accompany Emil and Richter. You aren't my guardian and I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself and I'm sure that Richter is able to protect me, unlike you three." She scoffed, ignoring them as she strode past Richter. "I'll meet the both of you downstairs."

With that Lillian descended down the steps, if she stayed there any longer then she might accidentally punch the crap out of Alba.

Richter's gaze continued watching Lillian before he turned back to Alba, "…Didn't you call Emil a demonic little brat?" Everyone turned to Emil who was still staring at his shoes, "Emil, what do you want to do?"

"E-eh?" Emil looked up in shock before he realized all the stares, he struck back. "I…I…"

"Don't listen to him, Emil!" Alba warned, glaring darkly at him.

"U-Uh…"

Richter pursed his lips in irritation, "Hurry up and make up your mind. Even dogs can think for themselves."

Emil looked up at Richter for a moment, remembering what Marta said to him earlier when they went to the lakebed for the first time. He had to make up his mind, he needed to make his decision, but…Emil turned away in thought and at that moment, Richter just simply turned around and followed to where Lillian went.

Alba clicked his tongue, "What's wrong with that guy? Who the hell does he think he is?! If he doesn't protect Lillian…hmph, now, let's go, Emil." He walked towards his nephew and grabbed his arm harshly, Emil didn't look at him.

But then another howl echoed in the air, his eyes widened in shock at the sudden sound. Something prodded his mind for a moment. Richter's words…Marta's words…all of them echoing around.

"_You need to take initiative on what you do or else you won't get anywhere in life, y'know."_

Those words echoed around in his mind. Lillian was right…they were all right. He needed to make his decision without hesitation or anything that would waver him, or else he wouldn't get anywhere, he wouldn't learn, he wouldn't move forward.

Emil tugged his arm away from Alba, still staring at the ground. "I…I'm going."

"Emil?!"

At that, Emil whirled over to his uncle with a firm look. "I'm going!" He shouted and he ran away, not even looking back and ran down the stairs.

In the cave, Lillian was patiently waiting against the wall with Richter who was standing at the foot of the stairs with his arms crossed. It was quiet for the most part until they heard another pair of footsteps echoed around, she looked up to see Emil walking down with his head bowed low.

He looked at Richter's back for a moment, his lips quivering before his hands curled into tight fists. "U-Um, Richter…!"

"Let's go."

"Eh?"

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"U-Um…Y-Yes!"

Richter stole at glance at Emil, "Don't get in my way. You're here so you're responsible for protecting yourself. I'll help you along the way." He muttered the last part quietly.

Emil looked completely elated at that, "Y-Yes!"

Lillian gave a rather cunning smile, leaning against the wall with her eyes lowered in thought. "Heh…" She drawled playfully.

At that, Richter gave a hard look at Lillian but she didn't look affected as much. "Lillian, it goes for you too. Do not be reckless and try to do stunts that will risk your and our lives. Because the mayor is your uncle and he personally asked me to protect you, you need to stay where I can see you."

She waved her hand around, "I got it." She sang, pushing herself off of the wall and brushed her clothes casually. "Let's do this thing."

Richter and Emil descended down the stairs where Lillian was waiting the bottom, her foot was tapping as she stared at the door curiously. She saw those types of doors in the books she had read back home, that you just simply push it and the door will automatically activate itself. It's gotta do with something about the mana inside a person's body.

"Alba really laid it into you. Why didn't you fight back?" Lillian turned when Richter spoke, he was looking down at Emil who shrunk back in fear.

"I-I apologize…" He bowed his head in shame.

"You were like that with the brats in town." He sighed sharply, "Listen, people like that will continue to bother you no matter how much you plead. They'll continue unless you'll stand up for yourself, nothing will change if don't do anything."

Lillian's eyebrows raised while Emil nodded his head. "I apologize…!"

"What did I say about apologize so much?"

"Oh!" Emil nodded his head again before lowering it, his voice was low. "Y-Yes…"

Richter studied Emil before looking away, "I'm not blaming you. You're free to do as you choose. But, don't be so submissive all the time." He look back at Emil sternly, "Have more faith in yourself."

Emil grew silent, observing Richter for a moment. But as if Lillian had read his thoughts, the honey brown haired girl crossed her arms and casually strolled over to Richter with her head tilted to the side. "You act all scary but in reality, your very nice, Richter." She found herself beaming genuinely, "I think you're a cool person."

Richter stared at Lillian for a moment before he swiftly looked away, "Let's go."

"Okay!"

"Y-Yes."

He simply placed a hand on the door while Lillian bounded over to Emil, "Oh yeah, where's your sword?"

Emil blinked before taking the sword from his back, "Here. Why?"

"Nothing really, the cave's gonna get dangerous from here and you really need to learn how to fight."

"O-Oh…"

Richter seemed to overhear to their conversation and turned around, "I assume that you've fought monsters before."

"Ehh?! Ah…I mean, that's…"

The red head shifted his weight, staring at Emil and Lillian in uncertainty. "Don't tell me you haven't?"

Emil shook his head, immediately looking at Lillian who was just staring to the side without any trace of interest before looking back at Richter. He scratched his head, "W-Well, um…just…just a bit." He avoided Richter's burning gaze before he gave a curt nod.

"Then you have."

"T…Twice…?" He trailed off, making his statement sound like a question instead.

Richter sighed, "Make up your mind."

Emil grew silent while Lillian just continued staring to the side before she heard a noise bounding towards them, a polwigle hopped over to them with a threatening look that could pass off as cute. They were weak monsters and since this place was originally submerged in water, it made sense why they're here.

Richter turned to the monster with an eyebrow raised, "Hm?" He grew silent before he nodded his head, "This one will do fine."

"A-A monster?!" Emil cried out in horror, immediately stepping back.

The honey brown haired girl instantly sighed, holding a hand to her cheek. "…That's adorable."

Emil turned to her in shock, "A-adorable?! H-How…" But his words went deaf when Lillian took out her sword. He looked around in panic, "A-Are we going to fight again?"

She snorted, "Obviously."

"Lillian, I want you to stay out of this fight. This will be Emil's lesson on how to properly fight." Richter said, not even sparing a glance at them.

"EH?!" Emil cried at the same time Lillian groaned in annoyance, "Aww…"

Lillian simply sheathed her sword and gave a boisterous laugh, patting Emil's back harshly. "Good luck, I'm rooting for you."

"W-Wait…but—I-I…!" But Lillian was already behind Richter, rooting from behind his back. He just stared at the girl like he was betrayed before Richter's gaze burned through his head, he quickly turned away to avoid eye contact.

"Take out your weapon, Emil." He said coolly, the polwigle was hopping and bouncing around like it was trying to warn them to not continue through its territory.

Hesitantly, Emil shakily took out his sword. At that, the polwigle immediately locked onto Emil and chased after the poor boy. He yelped and quickly ran away, avoiding the attacks and trying to stay as far as way as possible. It was a slow monster and it didn't do much damage towards Emil, which is why it was entertaining for Lillian to watch him stumble around like a little fool.

He frantically looked around, trying to find any way to escape the situation. "R-Richter, what should I do?!" He called out to the red-haired who just sighed.

"Stop panicking, for one. Children hunt monsters like this for fun." Even though he didn't look like it, Richter was downright amused right now. Emil continued stumbling around, running away and avoiding attacks from the monster.

"…B-But…" Emil whimpered, turning towards the monster that finally got dizzy from going around in circles.

"You'll be all right, I'll give you instructions. Now…are you left handed or right handed?"

"R-Right."

With that Richter's lesson continued, Lillian just sat on the floor resting her chin on the palm of her hand was she watched Emil do a pathetic attempt to attack the monster with battle cries that made her break into a grin. Richter stood there, his arms crossed with his fingers tapping on his arm in rhythmic motions. Emil didn't have any fighting stance whatsoever so Richter had to make do with his current, crappy fighting style that made Lillian giggle.

Soon enough, Emil finally defeated the monster as it vanished in a burst of mana. But at that moment, more polwigles joined in with its cute attempt to look frightening. Emil let out a noise of worry and fear of the monsters as he held his sword, attacking one of them randomly.

"Ah…" Lillian drawled, "Emil's outnumbered."

Richter raised an eyebrow, "…You don't sound worried."

She laughed, waving her hand around leisurely. "Because I'm not worried, he'll get a few scratches here and there but those monsters won't kill him. Besides, watching Emil attempting to fight is cute. Seeing him suffering…his submissive look is just…" She squealed happily.

Richter gave the girl a look. "…That's rather sadistic." He muttered under his breath.

He let out a sigh before turning back to Emil, he managed to defeat two of them but there were two more left. Sweat trailed down Emil's forehead as he took deep breaths, he was injured from falling a lot and was tired from swinging around that sword. Richter took out his weapons, "It's time to intervene. I'll cast first aid on Emil, think you can handle these?"

The honey brown haired girl looked up, her eyes squinting in suspicion. "Sounds like you don't trust me, Richter." She huffed before suddenly standing up, dusting her clothes. "Oh well, I was getting bored anyways. You're gonna cast first aid, right?"

"Yes. Now hurry and distract."

"Okie-dokey!" Her sword was pulled out from its scabbard with a slight twirl.

Emil wiped the sweat off his forehead until he heard footsteps coming towards him, at that distraction, the polwigle hopped up to give a smack to Emil but it was suddenly kicked away to the wall. Lillian stood there with a small huff before she flicked Emi's head playfully.

"Don't look so dazed there, Casanova." She snickered at his stunned expression, he raised his hand to his now red forehead. "Cat got your tongue?"

"_First aid!_"

The cast came out, Emil's wounds immediately healed up. The bruises and small gashes closed up and returned to its fleshy hue, Lillian patted his arm to reassure the blond who let out a sigh of relief. Richter approached the two, watching the single polwigle hop around weakly. The other one was instantly killed when it was kicked by Lillian.

"There, that should be enough." With a battle cry, he performed an arte that instantly wiped out the polwigle.

Emil was in awe, "What was that?"

"It's called an arte." Richter said, sheathing his weapons fluidly. "You learn them the more you fight and develop your skills."

"You also learn them if someone taught you." Lillian piped up, sheathing her own sword. "There are different artes for different weapons, and since you're using swords then you'll learn sword-based arts. But it all depends on a person's skill and what they learn."

Emil nodded his head in understanding, "Artes…then, even I can learn them?"

Richter gave a curt nod, "You will in time. So, now do you understand how to fight?"

The blond was silent for a moment before hesitantly nodded his head, "…I…I think so. Probably."

"Don't worry. I'll back you up, didn't I say that before?" Richter gaze softened considerably and it didn't go unnoticed, "I'm the one who asked for your help. I won't let anything happen to you."

Emil beamed, nodding his head enthusiastically. "Y-Yes!"

A giggle came from the honey brown haired girl, they turned to Lillian who was smiling rather slyly to herself. "Oh, ignore me. I'm just here…having fun, watching you get hurt, no biggie." She shrugged before sauntering off. "Now then! Through the cave we go!"

Her obnoxious laughter echoed in the cave, Richter just looked appalled while Emil just sweatdropped.

"She's hiding something."

"…It…looks like it."

**-x-**

They continued wandering through the cave aimlessly, going deeper and deeper in hopes to find Marta in this maze. Lillian was originally humming some made-up tune with Emil listening and adding comments, Richter had to hush the two and gave them another strict lesson about stealth and staying incognito in monster territory. As much as the petite girl scowled and made snarky comments under her breathe, they had to continue through the cave in silence.

Emil had his head bowed low as he was a few steps away from Lillian. His eyebrows were furrowed deep in thought about something before he hesitantly looked up.

"U-Um, Lily?" He called out quietly, jogging up to the girl.

She turned around, her eyebrows raised. "Hm?"

"Um…" He eyed Richter nervously before lowering his voice to a very quiet whisper, "Why is Richter looking for Marta?"

Lillian blinked at that question, it never really occurred to her really. She pursed her lips together in thought, "…Why _is _Richter looking for Marta? Judging by his reaction at the mayor's home…" She covered her mouth with her hand, letting out a low hum. "It's a good guess to say that Marta is important to Richter."

"Important…? Like a close friend or a relative?"

She paused for a moment before shrugging, "Possibly, Marta looked around our age and Richter looks older so it's safe to assume that they aren't in an intimate relationship." A thought popped into her head as she playfully shoved Emil forward. "Why don't _you_ ask him yourself if you're curious?"

"E-eh?!" He squeaked, "M-Me? I can't…c-can't you do it?"

"No can do, Emil. You're the one who wants to know so it's fair enough if you go ask." She gave a sly smile, "Besides, who said that Richter is 'a nice person'?"

He stuttered, "B-But…it's hard to tell if he's really a nice person or not."

She shrugged, "Aw, too bad. But you're the one who wants to know so you do it. Hey, Richter!" She called out to the red-head, ignoring Emil's frantic waves and stutters as Richter turned around with a loud sigh.

"What did I say about volume?"

"Whoops, sorry." She laughed and scratched her head sheepishly, "Anyways, Emil is dying to ask you a question. Isn't that right?"

At her smile, Emil stiffened before he hesitantly looked at Richter who was waiting patiently. He looked down at the floor, avoiding his piercing gaze. He was scary but he was nice too, Richter was a confusing person.

"Uh…Richter?" He managed to get the words out of his mouth.

"What is it?"

"Richter…well, um…why are you looking for Marta?" He looked up to Richter curiously, his gaze hardened but his expression didn't waver one bit.

"Is it something that you need to know in order to live?"

"Wow, where did that come from?" Lillian muttered under her breath, unheard from either males.

Emil looked up in surprised, "Eh? Ah…ah, um…" His eyes darted to other places, moving back slightly with his head bowed down. "That…it's not that important…"

He grunted, looking off to the side while pushing up his glasses. He placed a hand on the hilt on his sword, "Then I have no need to satisfy your idle curiosity." He said sharply. Lillian frowned at that, well that was kinda rude.

He could have said it a little nicer though.

Emil blinked, realizing he was rejected and slumped. "I'm sorry…"

Richter sighed out, he apologized so frequently he wondered why he turned out like this. "Don't apologize so excessively."

The blond caught himself then nodded his head. The red-haired warrior crossed his arms against his chest, "I am often accused of being short with people. I don't intend to change my ways, but it doesn't mean I have anything against you."

Emil nodded his head quickly, "Thank you very much."

"That is no reason to thank me."

"Oh…" Emil looked a bit sadden at that, "…Sorry…"

Richter sighed out sharply.

Lillian snorted, walking towards him with her head raised high. "Y'know, short is an understatement. You're like a giant with a facial expression that always looks so angry!" She snickered to herself, Richter gave her a pointed stare that clearly said he was not amused but she just grinned it off. "But in all honesty, you're really cool! Like super cool, Richter. So cool that I might even consider marrying you."

She said it so seriously that it threw everyone aback. Emil turned around, his eyes wide while Richter had the same expression of pure shock and disbelief.

She laughed out loudly, "I'm just kidding! Sheesh, I wouldn't marry someone I just met today. But seriously, Richter is super cool." She nodded to herself before she quietly laughed to herself, walking away.

Richter muttered something that Lillian wouldn't quite catch but they continued on their trek through the cave in silence. Emil looked a bit dazed, probably sadden over Richter's words. Even for a short time, Lillian noticed that Richter probably made an impact on his life. Especially with that whole 'Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality' thing, if it really didn't change him then he would have never came down to this cave by himself.

Emil was a like a puppy following Richter's every command, it was so cute.

"Emil! Lillian! Stop!"

Richter shouted, Lillian's eyes flew open in shock. Out of nowhere, a enormous spider fell from above which surprised Emil but made Lillian fall over from shock. It was huge, had more than four legs, _fuzzy_, and sharp fang-like claws and it just gave her horrible shivers around her body. She squeaked out in horror and crawled away from the huge spider and into Richter's legs, she literally shivered and rubbed her arms quickly.

"Ugh, I feel so…disturbed." She shuddered,

"Pay attention! You almost walked into a monster."

"I-I'm sorry!" He automatically apologized, Lillian on the other hand just watched as the large spider crawled away to who knows where and hopefully it would stay like that until she left this cave. If there were more like those around…she shuddered at that thought.

Monsters were cool, sure, but she was never okay with those creepy-crawlies that should be burned with fire.

Richter's stern gaze glared down at Emil, "Listen. If you run into any monsters walking around, you will catch their attention and you would have no choice but to fight them." He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, "If you stumble into an enemy, as you did just now, they're likely to get the upper hand and attack you from behind."

Emil nodded his head in understanding but he curiously tilted it, "So…the way you run into monsters makes a difference?"

"Correct." He nodded, "Attacking an enemy from behind works out in your favor, but if they get behind you, they'll have the advantage. It's the same for both fighting and fleeing: Be aware of the enemy's direction and movements. Failing to do so can get you killed."

Emil looked serious, his lips pursed together and his eyebrows furrowed. Lillian looked like she just melted at that expression. He nodded his head, "Yes, I understand."

"Those things are very helpful when it comes to ambushing or fighting off strong enemies." Lillian pointed out, feeling a bit left out on the conversation. "You'd deal a lot more damage when it comes to attacking from the side or behind. As much as it's unfair, playing dirty can lead to your survival."

"I see…" Emil nodded his head again, serious. Lillian once again, felt like she melted.

"One more thing," Richter cut in, crossing his arms against his chest. "I can't have you wandering in a daze like that again so listen. It's not that I didn't appreciate your words of gratitude. I simply feel there's no need to give more thanks or apologies than a situation calls for."

The blond paused for a moment before nodding his head, "Y…Yes."

"We must express ourselves to convey our feelings to others. However, I feel emotions lose their strength once they're put into words." Richter let out a breath, pushing a strand of his hair away from his face. "So I prefer to speak only what is absolutely necessary. That's all."

"Yes!"

Richter had an unreadable expression, "This is the first time I've ever had to explain this much to anyone." He muttered out,

Lillian snickered, "Because Emil is a special case! Isn't that right?" She beamed brightly at Emil who looked a little lost.

"What do you mean?"

She waved her hand around, "Don't worry you're shy little head, Emil. When I was your age, I didn't know stuff like this."

"…But we're the same age…"

"Another thing…" Richter said, his gaze narrowed as he glanced at the floor. "Why are you still sitting in the floor?"

Lillian was comfortably seated between Emil and Richter, her legs crossed together. She shrugged nonchalantly, "If I stood up then I would look like I was butting in your lecture with Emil. And if I did stand up then you'd scold me too for either butting in or for not paying attention. So my only option is to sit right here." She patted the floor with a teasing smile, "The floor pretty comfy! Wanna join?"

Richter let out another irritated groan, "We have no time to joke around, get up."

She sighed out in irritation, scowling. "Yeah, yeah…snappypants." She muttered under her breath and stood up, dusting herself.

With that, they continued going through the cave with more caution this time. Richter was stronger than them so he could handle the monsters easily, she wondered if he was really in a hurry to meet Marta or something since they're avoiding all the monsters.

A door was ahead of them, Lillian was right behind Emil who was right behind Richter.

"_Master Richter!"_

Emil immediately froze with Lillian bumping into his back, she held her forehead with Emil looked around the cave. The voice echoed through the cave before it could no longer be heard anymore. Lillian blinked looking around curiously.

"Wh-What was that?" Emil's voice trembled slightly.

Richter shrugged it off, "Probably a monster. Don't worry about it."

Lillian pursed her lips together in thought for a moment before she lowered her head. Emil pouted slightly, "Of course I'm going to worry…" He whined out,

"Then you can wait here." He said, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. Walking towards the door, she couldn't see his expression but she…she felt off. She shook her head, must be her imagination or something.

Lillian raised a hand, "Can I come?"

"No, it's going to be dangerous beyond this door." He said curtly, ignoring Lillian's loud annoyed groan of disappointment as she crossed her arms and huffed.

"What are you going to do, Richter?" Emil asked curiously,

Richter gaze a sidelong glance at them. "There's a monster in there. Probably a strong one. Wait you wait here until I take it out."

"B-But…I…"

"You'll get in my way. Stay here. Lillian, I trust that you can watch over Emil?"

Lillian grumbled, her arms crossed, "Yeah, whatever." At the same moment, Emil just slumped in defeat and looked down. "Y…Yes…"

The red-haired warrior vanished behind the door as it closed behind him. Lillian snorted loudly, feeling very irked at his attitude as she walked towards the door. Her hands were on her hips as she practically glared at the stone door.

"Stay here while I'll have some fun and defeat powerful monsters without you. Look at me, I'm Richter who's going to have a damn blast beating up monsters!" She mocked Richter's deep and serious voice before she spat at the door. "Hmph! I bet he's not actually defeating a monster. I bet he just ditched us or something…or maybe he found something and won't tell us because it's secret! Richter is a man with many mysteries."

She heard a thud behind her. Lillian turned to see Emil on his knees, her eyebrows immediately raised. "Hey, are you okay, Emil? Did you hurt yourself?" She approached Emil worriedly.

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"**_

Lillian instantly froze, her hairs standing up as she whirled over to the door with wide eyes. "…Marta?" She muttered under her breath.

"Was that Marta?!" Emil's head snapped up to the door, he instantly got up.

She stared at the door, her hands curled into fists. She heard that type of scream before…that scream, she heard it often from Bell when her life was in danger. Her stomach felt like it just hit rock bottom, she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to see it but…but…he was so nice.

Richter was nice enough to care so why…?

Why would he…?

She shook her head, "I don't have time for this!" She snapped, unsheathing her sword and ran towards the door which immediately glowed brightly. The door closed shut behind her, leaving Emil who watched in shock,

"Lillian, wai—!" But it was too late, the door closed tightly. He looked around frantically.

"W…What should I do?"

Emil could just only watch as Lillian disappeared behind the door. She reacted so quickly it surprised him how she just took out her sword and charged into the other side without a second thought, they both didn't know Marta well…and she even asked if she was in danger then he would save her again.

He furrowed his eyebrows in thought, remembering Marta's smile when she saved him.

She saved them from death…just like how Lillian saved him. He curled his hands into fists, just like with Lillian…he owed her his life. And he needed to repay her. He shook his head, he didn't know _anything _about Marta.

Emil was quiet before he stared at the door, "I don't know her…but I just really can't ignore her!"

**-x-**

**A/N: I just actually realized that Lillian and Aster are very similar in terms of how they act except the Lillian is much more brash, loud, and sadistic than Aster who I want to hug and give blankets and throw over a ship. Suddenly Richter, now I know how you feel about your *coughboyfriendcough* best friend. Plus, how Richter feels about Emil and how they became *coughboyfriendscough* good friends.**

**Anyways, I ended it in a cliffhanger…ish? But ah, it's much better than the old one…right?**

**Please comment if there's something wrong or inaccurate and also review! I kiss my monitor every time I have a review and just lovingly trace your url.**


	5. Knight of Ratatosk

**-x-**

**Chapter Five: Knight of Ratatosk**

**-x-**

"_You're a man, so speak up!"_

"_I…If things get dangerous…will you save me again?"_

"_Hehe, you don't remember do you? B-But I really have to get going. So take care of yourself, Emil!"_

His mind was in jumbles as he barged into the next area only to see a sword clattering to the floor with Lillian falling on her posterior. His green eyes widened in horror as a blade was pointing at her neck, glinting dangerously. Sweat rolled down her forehead as she mustered the courage to glare at Richter under her lashes, his own piercing gaze just looked at her calmly—like he didn't care that his blade was inches away on piercing her skin.

"I told you to not act rashly, Lillian," He spoke flatly, raising his sword a little higher to her chin. "Now look what you've gotten yourself into."

Lillian didn't reply but she just glared at him with all the fury she could muster. "I don't want to hear that from a two-faced jerk like _you_." She snapped, snarling up to him. He pressed his lips together, his eyes lowered dangerously.

For a moment, Emil sworn he had saw Richter falter for a moment before he gritted his teeth. His burning gaze landed on Marta, a whirlwind of emotions clouded his eyes. "Hand over Ratatosk's core to me."

Marta growled in the back of her throat, she shook her head and glared. "I won't." She snapped,

He growled lowly, "Then…I'll destroy you with it. Move, Lillian!" He barked, Lillian flinched at the tone of his voice. He really didn't want her to get hurt but even if he didn't want _her _to get her, he wanted to hurt Marta. She gritted her teeth, frustrated for once.

"I won't move an inch, Richter." She snapped back as fierce, "Not unless you'll lower your sword and leave Marta alone."

He lowered his sword, back to the base of her neck. "…I don't want to hurt you." He whispered loud enough for her to hear, his sword glinted as he changed positions. "That's why, knocking you out will be the best choice." Analyzing carefully, he watched as Lillian stiffened as her glare faltered into confusion and fear. He ignored her look and aimed the hilt of his sword towards her—

"_STOP! STOP, PLEASE!"_

Richter froze along with the other two as they slowly turned to the blond who was practically shaking on the spot. He gasped for breathe before swallowing his fear to speak, "Richter…wh-what are you doing?!"

He growled in his throat, "I thought I told you _both_ to wait at the other side of the door."

"This is why you were looking for her…? To kill her?!" He shouted, shaking his head. He didn't want to believe this, was Richter that cruel enough to do something to someone else? He helped them and yet…

…_Yet…_

Richter's looked at Marta apathetically, "Correct."

"Why?!"

Marta faltered at Richter's blazing glare, "Because this girl is trying to awaken Ratatosk, the demon lord." His words were laced with venom, it surprised Lillian and Emil to hear such bitterness in his voice.

"Demon…lord…? …Richter, what are you saying?!"

Richter hummed in the back of his throat, as if he was actually giving thought to what Emil had said. "I agree, it's quite a foolish name, but 'demon lord' is the most appropriate term to describe what he is. If Ratatosk awakens, the world will be destroyed." He resumed to glaring at Marta, or her forehead to be exact.

"No…" Marta hands curled into fists before she violently shook her head, "No, you're wrong! Ratatosk is not a demon! He's the lord of all monsters. He won't destroy the world!" She snapped, glaring at Richter. She faltered when Richter's eyes darkened; something was boiling inside of those eyes.

"I'm not interested in semantics." His sword glinted in the dim cave, he calmly approached the two girls. Marta looked around for her spinner that was kicked away by Richter before, she was useless without that spinner. Lillian watched carefully and held her breath. She needed to do something. Something…something…

Emil suddenly rushed forward, catching everyone off-guard when he shoved Richter but ended up falling over to the ground in the process. The red-head was thrown off balance but he firmly stood his ground, he glared at the blond who was kneeling on the ground with a panic stricken look. "What are you doi—!" He raised his sword up, blocking the incoming rock that was aimed at him.

"Wha—!?" He whirled over to the direction of the rock, a sole of a boot came towards him causing him to abruptly lift his axe and swords up to block.

Lillian pushed against Richter's swords, flipping mid-air and landed in front of Emil without stumbling. It surprised Emil and even Richter on what she just did. Lillian's eyes lowered, analyzing Richter carefully. His eyes narrowed darkly.

"Lillian, what are you doing?" Emil flinched at that tone, "I told you to move, I don't want to harm you. But if you continue butting into a fight that doesn't belong to you or Emil, I'll have no choice but to defeat you myself."

She gritted her teeth. She knew she could never win against Richter, a swordsman who was much powerful and more adept at fighting than her. Even with her current skills on fist-fighting, she'll lose automatically. But, she just needed to buy just only small time to let Marta escape.

Before anyone could move, Emil ran in front of Lillian with his hands outstretched. "I-I won't let you." He stuttered, his legs quaking underneath him.

"Move, Emil!" He snapped,

"N-No…" Trembling, he avoided his eye contact.

"_MOVE!"_

Emil shivered, screwing his eyes tightly in fright. His body trembled but something boiled inside of himself, he looked up with determined eyes. "I…I'm human! T-That's why…I'm going to make my own de-decisions!" His words slurred from his voice shaking a lot.

He looked taken aback, "…Emil…"

Lillian's eyes darted to Marta then at the fallen spinner in the floor, "Marta, go!" She whispered harshly. Marta blinked, staring between Emil and Lillian before she hesitantly nodded her head and stumbled towards the exit. Behind her, Lillian followed and dove towards the spinner and threw it towards her. "Marta!"

Marta saw her spinner flying towards her which she caught with ease and strapped it to her arm, "E-Emil, Lily, thank you!" She shouted before disappearing behind the door.

Richter was about to chase after Marta when Lillian suddenly kicked another rock towards him, he dodged the incoming projectile then turned to see Lillian holding her sword out to him with a firm gaze. Richter made a low hum in the back of his throat, so she managed to retrieve it.

"I won't let you step any closer."

Emil took this moment to step forward, standing in between Lillian and Richter again. The petite girl looked at Emil in surprise; he didn't even have a weapon out! Does he really want to die an early death?

"I don't want to kill either of you, move!" Richter seethed, pointing his sword at Emil.

Emil firmly shook his head, his voice quivered. "I…I don't really understand what you two are talking about, b-but you can't do things like this! If you just talk it over—!"

Richter stared down at him, he couldn't detect any emotion coming from Richter and it scared him. The red-head clicked his tongue in frustration. "I told you to not get into my way. Aqua, come here!" He shouted, Lillian's eyes widened as she pushed Emil behind her body and pointed his sword at Richter or whatever he was calling.

From the ground, a woman with fish-like qualities came forth in a burst of blue mist. "Yes, Master Richter~!" She purred,

Richter glanced at the woman, "Take care of these two, but…don't overdo it."

"T-The monster's talking!" Emil shouted in horror, the 'monster' did not look very pleased at that.

She glared at him, "Who're you calling a monster, you human! I'll have you know I'm Centurion Aqua, you brat!" Aqua pointed at two and hummed, "Now then! My cute little minion, take these two away!"

Just like how Aqua appeared, a tortoise-like monster materialized behind them. It practically shoved Emil forward and grabbed Lillian by her shirt letting her hang like some ragdoll, her eyes widened as she furiously waved her sword and arms around.

"What big idea is this?!" She shouted but the large tortoise didn't listen, "Don't ignore me you overgrown turtle! Bastards! I kill every one of you with my bare hands!"

The tortoise continued shoving Emil towards the direction where they came from while Lillian continued hanging by its large snapping mouth. The door reacted to the presence of concentrated mana and opened up, Emil was shoved to the floor while Lillian was practically thrown down to the floor with a loud thud. With that, the door closed shut leaving Richter and Aqua on the other side.

Emil fell on his posterior while Lillian did a graceful faceplant on the floor she enjoyed sitting on minutes ago.

He stood up, rubbing his head from the shove. He could feel a slight sting in the back of his head. "What was that? With that there, I won't be able to catch up with Richter…"

There was a loud groan coming from the floor, he looked to see Lillian lying down on the floor. With another agonizing moan, she rolled to her back and glared at the rocky ceiling above. Her face was covered in dirt and dust with small pebbles poking her skin.

"Are you okay, Lillian?" Emil hovered over her, extending a hand which she gladly took.

"Peachy," She grumbled, picking herself up and dusting her clothes and wiping her face with her sleeve. She suddenly sneezed loudly, echoing throughout the cave as loudly as she did.

Emil literally jumped at the sudden sneeze. It was so loud and it was surprising to hear it come from someone as petite as Lillian, it reminded him those large and bulky mercenaries sneezing or laughing out loudly without any care in the world.

Lillian rubbed her nose with her sleeve and with a loud sniff, she scowled. "Great, my nose is itchy."

"Hey, uhm, Lily. Do you know what monster was that?"

"The tortoise? It's a water-element monster, clearly by the color of its skin and shell."

"No, no. The other one."

"Oh…you mean that Aqua girl? Didn't she say she's a cen-something-ron?" Lillian tapped her chin before she huffed, crossing her arms. "Jeez, what we just needed. More monsters," She scoffed at that, frowning deeply.

Emil worriedly glanced at the door before hesitantly approaching it, Lillian watched Emil walk towards the door before she narrowed her eyes. "Where you going? Are you thinking of going back there? You can't even land a decent hit on any monster or even _protect _yourself. Do you want to die, Emil? "

He visibly flinched at that. Emil opened his mouth to say something but he ended up closing it, avoided her scrutinizing gaze and looked away with his hands curled into tight fists."I-I know that…! But I just…Marta…" He trailed away, looking down. "I want to help her but…I'm just…not strong enough to even do that…"

"_Then you must forge a pact."_

Emil whirled around, hearing a voice behind him. "Eh?"

Lillian on the other hand jumped at the sudden voice before she looked around in shock. In a burst of purple mist, a black and purple panther-like creature materialized in front of Lillian which caught her off guard. She screamed in shock, flailing backwards ungracefully and landed on her posterior.

The blond backed up, "A-Another talking monster?"

"I am not a beast. I am a Centurion. Centurion Tenebrae." He spoke solemnly, Lillian just stared at the centurion with wide eyes. She nearly blurted out her companions name but she just shook her head, wiping the thoughts away from her head.

Emil tilted his head curiously, "Cen…turion…Tenebrae?"

Tenebrae's gaze bore deeply into Emil's, "You could never defeat the monster on the other side of this door as you are now." His gaze turned to the door then back at Emil, "Forge a pact to become a Knight of Ratatosk. Then you will be able to accept Lord Ratatosk's power in battle."

Lillian didn't pick herself up from the ground, rather, she just sat there comfortably and tapped on her chin. "Ratatosk…didn't Richter say that before?"

"Wh-What do you mean?"

Tenebrae dropped down to the ground, "There is no time to explain. Right now, Lady Marta is in danger."

Emil furrowed his eyebrows in thought before he shook his head, "Even so, you're just a monster—no that's not right, um…a Centurion. And I don't know if…" He trailed away before lowering his head even further.

The centurion paused for a moment before he howled, Lillian felt a rush of wind inside the cave for some reason. Her eyes widened, even Emil snapped up to stare at Tenebrae in shock.

"That howl…was it you who made that sound?"

He nodded his head, "Lady Marta was searching for you. You saved her life and she has chosen you to be a knight."

He pointed at himself in uncertainty, "M-Me?!"

"Now, forge the pact!"

"But I…"

He looked hesitant for a moment, staring at his shoes in deep thought until Lillian cleared her throat which caught his attention. He looked up but then saw Lillian on the ground, the honey-brown haired girl was resting her chin on the palm of her hand.

She apathetically looked away, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "…You know, you should have more faith in yourself, Emil." She said, her gaze looked nonchalant for some reason. "I understand how you feel, this will be an enormous weight on your shoulder but sometimes…you need to think about how your decision would affect others. You want to save Marta don't you? That choice alone is a huge leap, are you planning to stop halfway because you're scared on what will happen in the end? You're practically throwing away Marta's safety because you didn't face the problem head-on."

Emil stared at her but looked down to avoid her scrutinizing gaze, "I…I…"

"It's going to be frightening, I know. But don't forget that there are people that are willing to share the weight on your shoulder, Emil." She grinned, slowly standing up. "As your friend, I'm willing to share any burden that you're holding Emil. That I promise. So, let me protect you too."

He looked up, surprised. "…Protect me?"

"You're going to be Marta's knight, right? Who's going to protect you? That's why, I'll become your exclusive knight." She raised her head high, "It's not so bad for someone like me. Being the knight of the knight of Ratatosk, sounds fun."

Tenebrae eyed the girl for a moment before he let out a quiet chuckle, smirking to himself.

"Lillian…I…" He lowered his eyes before he nodded his head, "Alright, I'll make the pact."

"Understood." Tenebrae closed his eyes, he began flickering for a moment before a shroud of purple mist surrounded him. The mist flew towards Emil, wrapping itself around his body like a blanket. Emil felt something building inside of him, something was stirring inside of him. "Emil, I command you. Unleash the power within yourself."

His voice echoed with power, Lillian felt shivers around her body as she shielded her eyes from the debris that started to pick up from the power Tenebrae was emitting. Emil was flickering, his body was flickering, that she could see through the light mixed with purple.

"Awaken, Hunter of Evil!"

The light grew brighter and brighter, Lillian screwed her eyes shut as she felt an explosion of power occur. At that moment, she felt something warm wrap around her body like a warm covering before a faint pulse was felt on her chest—or more specifically…her necklace.

When the light died down, so did the warmth. Lillian rubbed her eyes before opening them, she saw Emil looking down at the ground with his awful clothing gone and replaced by an outfit she could have taken a spit-take on. She looked down on her hand, staring at her palm for a moment.

Weird, where did that warmth go?

Something glowed faintly underneath her shirt, she pulled out her necklace to see that her dull red orb was now glowing brightly with a weird symbol inside of it. She did a double take, "Wh-Wh-What happened to my necklace?! Tenebrae! If something goes wrong with this I will personally skewer you!" She barked, taking off her necklace frantically.

Nothing changed except it was much shinier and something was flowing inside of it. A weird butterfly shaped mark with particles, if she read the books correctly—it was mana. Mana could take form if it was concentrated enough.

"Don't worry, Lillian. Nothing has changed with your necklace, I had chosen your necklace to be the symbol of the pact of Ratatosk."

"Symbol? Pact? When did I make a pact?"

"When you so boldly declared to become Emil's knight."

Her eyes flew wide open, "Are you saying I'm really Emil's knight? _ARE YOU SERIOUS!?_" She shouted, "You should have told me that you were going to make _me _into a knight! I was just joking back there!"

Tenebrae raised an eyebrow to her, "So, were you lying that you would protect Emil?"

"I…but that's—I didn't—!" She spluttered out an excuse until she sighed out sharply. She glared at Tenebrae, angrily putting back her necklace on and huffed. "You spiteful centurion, I can't believe…ugh."

Tenebrae looked rather amused at her reaction, "Forgive me, Lillian. But I do believe there was a saying, words have power."

"Urgh…" She grumbled. Lillian grabbed her sword from the ground and twirled it for a moment, "There's no use complaining what just happened, what's important is what's happening right now. Hey, Emil! You okay over there?" She sheathed her sword back into her scabbard.

He was silent for a moment before she could have sworn she saw his mouth tug upwards into a smirk, "You better not fail me, Lillian." Lillian nearly jolted at the sound of his voice, Emil looked up and stared at her with eyes as red as blood.

She blinked a few times, "E-Emil?" She stuttered, surprised at his sudden confident and deep voice. For some reason, that voice just nagged her memories annoyingly but she just brushed it off when Emil approached her.

"You're my knight, let's see if you can protect me like you said before." He said, his tone sounded mocking. What happened to the cute Emil that she often melted about? The one who stuttered and looked so cute? Whatever happened to Emil now, there was one thing she was very sure about.

He was making fun of her.

"Heeh…" She drawled, giving a smug smile as she lowered her eyes teasingly. "Don't underestimate me, Emil. Just because you're taller or anything like that doesn't mean I can't handle myself. Let's see who'll beg to be saved, hm?"

Emil just smirked, "You're on."

**-x-**

Emil and Lillian entered with a solemn atmosphere, of course, they practically made their upcoming fight into some little game to see who'll beat who first. But Lillian couldn't help but watch Emil walk with his head held high and confident about himself, it scared her a bit to see Emil look so different compared to how he acted back then in Luin and before he made the pact with Ratatosk. It was like a switch was just flipped.

Aqua noticed the two of them enter but who else came with them just set her off, she scowled. "Spiteful Tenebrae! Why are you here?!"

He brushed her off making her look even more angry, "Now Emil and Lillian, let's go."

"What's with that? You wanna fight? You're gonna regret this!" She said, mocking them with her hands on her hips. She floated a bit closer to them to look much more intimidating but Lillian found it cute on how angry she looked.

"The one who's going to regret this is you." His eyes were closed before he opened them, revealing a butterfly-like symbol on his eyes that vanished instantly. He took out his sword with a twirl, snarling. "Let's go!"

Aqua blinked for a moment, noticing the symbol before she glared down at them. "Fine by me! Come on out, my adorable minion and defeat these's brats!" She called out, lifting her hand towards them. A blob-like monster appeared from the ground, three of them manifested.

Lillian took out her sword, and charged towards Emil who was ahead of them. She jumped onto his back which surprised him and practically squashed the blob-monster under her feet before flipping away, "That actually felt weird."

"_Demon Fang!" _

A shockwave of sheer power came towards the monster, destroying the ground in the process before landing a direct hit. At the daze of the sudden attack, Emil appeared from the sky and slashed down with ease before attacking wildly.

It surprised Lillian on how _good _Emil suddenly was on attacking, especially since he was so awful at attacking before. She found herself smiling widely and dashed forward, attacking the one she just stepped on with ease before it disappeared in a burst of light.

"Lillian, dodge!"

"Hmm—_AAGH_!" Lillian jumped to the side as another demon fang came to her way, headed straight towards the other monster. She stared at Emil who ran towards it and delivered a powerful kick before attacking it again. The honey-brown haired girl shook her hand angrily, "Are you trying to kill me? You've done this before with the sword!"

"You were in the way." He said, suddenly slashing the monster up which caused it to be airborne. There he attacked it wildly in the sky.

His attacks were very wild but it was great that he could attack people in the air too. It was completely different from his fighting style before, very different. Both the monster and Emil landed back on the ground, Lillian frowned before she slashed her sword despite being on the floor.

"_Demon Fang!"_

The attack came towards Emil which he dodged and instantly wiped out the monster, Emil just eyed her for a moment with a scowl.

Lillian shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "You were in the way." Then she suddenly grinned, "Oh, and this means that I won! Ha! In your face."

The blond haired warrior closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, revealing his green eyes. He blinked for a moment, as if he was trying to take in what just happened then stared at his hands in amazement.

"Wh…What was that just now?"

Tenebrae materialized himself near Emil and trotted in front of him, "That was Lord Ratatosk's power taking a hold of you."

He looked down to ground in thought, "It…It felt like I wasn't myself."

"It is Lord Ratatosk's power after all."

Lillian approached them, sheathing her sword back to its scabbard. The necklace returned back to its dull state, "How come I don't get any special powers from Ratatosk or anything like that?"

The Centurion looked over at the petite girl who had her arms crossed, "Because you are Emil's knight, Lord Ratatosk has given to you his protection as well. If Emil would be in danger than you would automatically sense that, it goes the same for Emil towards you." He explained,

"Wha—That's boring!" She clicked her tongue in distaste and closed her eyes. "I thought I would have gotten cool magic powers or anything like that, how dull."

Tenebrae shook his head, "Don't underestimate the power of Lord Ratatosk, Lillian. You might never know when he might grant you his power if he believes you really need it."

At that, Lillian cracked an eye open. "Does that mean Ratatosk trusts my own power?" She said, eyeing Tenebrae who nodded his head. She found himself smiling smugly, her ego just swelled up even more just now. She nodded her head in approval, "I'm _that_ good."

"Anyways…" Emil noticed the fallen centurion on the ground, "What happened to Aqua? I didn't even touch her."

He glanced over to the blue centurion then back at the two, "Centurions themselves do not fight. They employ monsters servants to battle in their place." He explained, "If their monsters are defeated, the Centurion's power will also fade. Right now, she is only unconscious."

Lillian looked appalled, "No wonder you were so useless, Tenebie."

Tenebrae frowned, "It's _Tenebrae_. I would have helped if I had my own servants following my call, unlike Aqua who already made pacts."

Emil sighed in relief with a smile, "Oh, that's good. I don't want to hurt her."

The honey-brown haired girl looked at Emil before she broke out into a smile, she reached up and grabbed Emil's cheeks. "You're so kind towards your enemies, Emil! How cute!" She roughly pulled on his cheeks causing him to yelp.

"L-Lillian! L-Let me go!" He cried out, trying to pull on her hands.

She suddenly stopped pulling on his cheeks with a smile, "That kindness will become the reason for your downfall as well."

Emil blinked for a moment, "Eh?"

Lillian suddenly pulled on his cheeks hard before releasing causing Emil to stumble backwards. She shrugged nonchalantly, "Nothing, really. We better get going before Marta's going to be in more trouble with Richter." She folded her arms behind her head and approached the door.

He just watched Lillian walk away, "…Lily…"

"Come, Emil. We must go after Lady Marta."

"Right."

Emil looked up to see Lillian waiting patiently for them, fiddling with her red necklace with her fingers. He wondered what did her words mean, kindness being his downfall? How is being kind a bad thing? Before he could even ask what did the petite girl meant, something occurred to him.

He stared at the palm of his fingerless gloved hand, "Eh?"

"What is it, Emil?" Lillian hopped over to the taller swordsman and looked into the palm of his hand curiously, "…Am…Am I supposed to be looking at something?"

"No, um…Did I learn something?" He asked no one in particular,

Tenebrae mused for a moment before he nodded his head, "Ah, it appears you acquired a skill."

They both tilted their heads at the same time, Emil blinked curiously while Lillian just squinted her eyes. "Skill?" They chorused,

The Centurion nodded his head, "Yes, a special technique for battles. Skills are acquired by meeting certain requirements. Everyone has their own set of skills they can learn." He looked pretty pleased to be teaching something like this, Emil listened intently while Lillian just yawned into her hand. "Once learned, you can select which skills to use for battle. Select whatever skills you think will be the most useful. However, the number of skills you can use one at a time is limited. So think carefully when using your skills."

They both nodded their heads dumbly.

"Do you understand?" Tenebrae eyed them suspiciously.

Emil blinked, realizing he was being called on. "Eh—uh, yes…sort of." Lillian nodded her head wordlessly.

"Do you both really?"

Lillian nodded her head again while Emil looked down, "We're going to be alright…maybe. Right, Lillian?"

"I didn't listen, what?" She casually scratched her head and looked Emil and Tenebrae.

"…"

Tenebrae chuckled to himself, "This will be an interesting journey." He smirked, eyeing Lillian who was being lightly scolded by Emil…or attempting to be scolded by Emil.

The honey-brown haired girl noticed Aqua was still resting on the ground. She was still breathing, probably recharging her energy after they defeated their monsters easily. Lillian slowly approached the Centurion carefully then used her foot to nudge her body.

Emil's eyes flew open, "D-Don't do that!"

"What? I'm just checking her." She shrugged her shoulders, she then took the sheath of her sword and poked her body with it. She found herself grinning as she began poking various parts of the Centurions body.

Emil had to resort to dragging her friend away from Aqua before she could continue making fun of the fallen Centurion. He pushed her through the door to the other side, the door closed behind them with a loud noise causing him to sigh out loudly.

"You really shouldn't do that, Lillian." He frowned slightly.

Lillian placed her hands on her hips with a smile, "Don't worry, she won't know. Besides, I've never seen or heard of a Centurion before! I wonder if it's in Father's research papers." She tapped on her chin with an awestruck look.

"Research papers?"

She beamed, shaking her head. "Nothing, really, I like discovering things to I collect research papers."

"Is your father a scientist, Lillian?" Tenebrae looked up to the honey-brown haired girl who paused for a moment.

She grew silent for a moment before she looked up at Tenebrae and Emil, confused. "…I…I don't really know…" She whispered to herself and looked down at the floor solemnly. "…I guess so. They called Father 'Professor'."

Emil smiled, "Your father sounds really great!"

Lillian didn't answer to that, she just turned her heel and walked towards the door. He blinked for a moment, wondering what just happened before following Lillian closely behind. The honey-brown haired girl stood in front of the door for a moment before she squinted her eyes, poking the door.

Was the door locked?

"It…It won't open?" Emil tilted his head at the door,

Tenebrae closed his eyes for a moment, "Richter must have sealed it off."

Lillian suddenly gave a hard kick at the door, "He's planning to make this whole thing harder, isn't he? Ugh! I'm going knock down this door and force him to eat the remains!" She barked, repeating kicking the door over and over again.

Emil turned to the Centurion of Darkness, faltering for a moment, "That can't be…t-then, what do we do?"

He grew silent, closing his eyes and started to feel the entire cave. Lillian was in the background making strangled animal noises as she attempted to break down the door, Tenebrae opened his eyes and glanced to the side. "I sense a draft. There must be another passage somewhere." He looked back to Emil, "Perhaps you should use the Sorcerer's Ring to examine the walls."

"Sorcerer's Ring? What's that?"

"That ring on your finger."

Emil lifted his right hand, lo and behold, there was a ring on it. "It's true!" He lifted his hand higher to take a good look at the ring.

He nodded his head proudly for some reason, "That ring was given to you by Lord Ratatosk, as a symbol of your pact. Magical power dwells within it."

Lillian popped in out of nowhere, "I hear something about a ring?" She looked around before her eyes landed on the ring, her eyes widened as she furiously grabbed Emil's wrist and looked at him seriously. "Emil! You never told me that you got married with Ratatosk!"

"W-WH-WHAT?! M-M-_MARRIED?!_" Emil flushed dark red, Tenebrae stifled a chuckle by disguising it into a cough.

"I believe the wedding ring would be on the left hand, Lillian."

The honey-brown haired girl crossed her arms seriously, rubbing her chin in thought. "That's true…but basically, Emil made a pact with Ratatosk right? And pacts are made with vows, right?"

Tenebrae nodded his head, "Correct."

"Then it's the same thing as marriage! When you get married, you need to make a vow. Pacts are made with vows and basically, Emil and Ratatosk are married!" She declared, clapping her hands together at her sudden discovery. She eyed Emil for a moment, "Hmm…That must be harsh for Ratatosk. He'll get jealous on the fact Emil might be attracting love rivals, girl or boy."

"L-Lillian!"

The said girl ignored Emil, looking at Tenebrae with a questioning look. "So…the sorcerer's ring has magical powers right? Since it's the symbol of the pact?"

"Yes, it contains magical properties. Your necklace is the same as the Sorcerer's Ring, the magic embedded inside that pendant of yours is the reason why it's possible for you to search for Emil when he's separated for you." He explained, "There might be more than what meets the eye but it might differ every time, such as when Emil is being controlled by Lord Ratatosk's power."

"So Tenebie, something cool might happen if Emil is controlled by Ratatosk's power?"

Tenebrae nodded but then narrowed his eyes, "It's Tenebrae. And it might be possible."

"So, the wedding ring—"

"Sorcerer's Ring." Tenebrae cut in, giving Lillian a stern look. She just replied by sticking out her tongue.

"Okay, okay. _Sorcerer's Ring_—has magic powers, how to use those magic powers?" She lifted a finger, "Like if Emil wills it or anything like that?"

Emil looked at his ring again, "But I'm human. Only elves and half-elves can use magic."

Tenebrae gave a pleasant expression and shook his head, "It'll be fine. The ring can be used by humans as well."

He was silent for a moment before looking up to the Centurion of Darkness, "Is…Is that so? I guess…I'll try it out…" He trailed away, unsure or something. He hesitantly lifted his hand to some random direction, suddenly a burst of fire came out from the ring.

Lillian whistled in amazement, "It shoots fire? That's pretty nifty. We don't need to make a fire if we're cold, just use the sorcerer's ring."

Emil made a low hum in the back of his throat, lowering his hand in thought. "I…" He lowered his eyes, "I wonder if I can do this…"

"You can!" Tenebrae suddenly cut in suddenly, surprising Lillian and Emil on how loud he was. "I have every confidence that you can save Lady Marta."

The blond swordsman was silent for a moment, Tenebrae approached Emil as he was thinking. "You must believe in your power as a knight of Ratatosk."

He looked away, "But…"

"Humans have a saying, 'Seeing is believing'."

"I…I don't think that works here. But it's okay." He gave a smile, "Thanks, I guess I'll try giving it a shot."

Lillian made a strangled noise catching their attention, they turned to see Lillian practically swooning happily over there and looked like she was going to pass out for some reason. Before Emil could even ask, she sighed out loudly. "You're just too _cute_, Emil! Like a cute little puppy with cute floppy little ears!"

"Puppy?"

"An adorable puppy! It's a crime! If only you were my brother then I'll have fun dressing you right up! Right, Tenebie?"

Tenebrae sighed out, "It's Tenebrae. How many times must I remind you?"

"Eh, Tenebrae doesn't sound cute. Tenebie is much better. Or maybe, Tenebri, Ten-Ten, Tennie, or maybe…Braebrae! The possibilities are endless!" She counted off with her fingers, Tenebrae grumbled under his breath before looking up at Lillian.

"Instead of Lillian or Lily, you should be renamed a pipsqueak. Even Lady Marta is taller than you." He shot back, giving a smug smirk. Lillian's eyes immediately narrowed in displeasure.

She glared darkly at him, "Excuse you, but I'm the same height as Marta. Are you that blind, Tenbie? Oh wait, maybe you are since you practically talk like some old jeezer."

"I am not old!" He said hotly, glaring right back.

"Hah! Could have fooled me, are you already going senile?" She gave a mock sigh, frowning sadly. "That's _soo_ sad, Tenebri. But don't worry, I hear old people get many benefits since they can't do anything. Just like you, _Te_-_ne_-_**bie~!**_"

They both glared at each other for a moment, lightning could even pass through their eyes. That's how ferocious they were glaring at each other. Emil held out his hand shakily, appalled at the sudden fight that just broke out suddenly. "U-Um…p-p-please don't fight!"

"Who said we're fighting?" They both said at the same time, looking at Emil with blank eyes. Emil jumped at that, especially on how sync they spoke like it was nothing big.

"I-I…I'm sorry…" He bowed his head, cowering away pathetically.

"See! See! Look what you did, Tenebie! You made Emil sad!" She pointed at the 'sad' Emil with her index finger.

"I made him sad? Who was the one who started this whole conflict, you have such short temper. Of course, since it's befitting for your height."

"_I'M GONNA STAB YOU, YOU SPITEFUL CENTURION!"_

**-x-**

**A/N: It was getting really long so I decided to cut it off right here. This chapter made me pull out my hair because no matter what I do, it looks horrible? I did my very best on this I swear to God, I'm not that good at fighting but I'm trying!**

**Listening to BGMs helps a lot.**

**Haha, Tenebie and Lillian are going to fight. Just watch and see, they'll never stop fighting. Soon, when Ratatosk!Emil comes out more often, Lillian's going to have a blast on trying to get him to snap and chase her around to kill her. Ahh, I just can't wait. **

**Next chapter will include:**

**Fighting.**

**More fighting.**

**That goddamn adorable imp**

**Lillian's sacarastic behavior.**

**Epic battle between Lillian and Ratatosk!Emil**

**And**

**Lloyd, the walking fire hydrant. (probably)**

**Stay tuned and please review~!**


	6. Pacts

**A/N: Hello, hello! Here again and presenting chapter six of Awakening of Time! You know what that means? I'm going to be deleting "Til' the end of Time" and replace it with this story. As soon as I update with chapter seven, the old story will be deleted.**

**Thank you for supporting that story and I hope you'll be supporting this as well!**

**Now, to the next chapter!**

**-x-**

**Chapter Six: Pacts**

**-x-**

"So Tenebrae," Emil said suddenly as they continued their way through the silent cave, it wasn't that silent. They could still hear the water dripping from a crack or the quiet growls and murmurs of the monsters roaming in the cave. He tugged on his scarf, "Somewhere along the way, I got some new clothes." He prodded the fabric of the scarf, feeling the softness of it. It was very comfortable around his neck, it wasn't too hot or too cold.

It took a whole five minutes for Tenebrae and Lillian to finally settle down after they threw insults around. It was half-entertaining and half-scary to witness them insult each other to the best of their ability until Lillian pulled out her sword and screamed bloody murder. He had to tackle the girl down and pacify her from actually committing murder but Tenebrae just continued taunting.

When Lillian actually tried to attack Tenebrae, he just materialized into purple mist and reappeared behind Lillian. He kept doing that until Lillian finally calmed down after Emil patted her head.

"I see you finally noticed!" He said, his eyes widening in surprise. "I was wondering when you'd bring it up!"

Emil backed away at his sudden enthusiasm, "I noticed right away, but it just never seemed like a good time to ask about it." He mumbled, fiddling with the hem of scarf.

"Along with the Sorcerer's Ring, those clothes are a symbol of your pact with Lord Ratatosk." He explained proudly and loudly, "It's vital that a Knight of Ratatosk would present himself with a certain degree of elegance."

Emil blinked, "Y…Yeah…"

A snort came from the petite girl, "Elegance? What elegance?" She muttered under her breath.

"The outfit's fabric is prepared with a number of special incantations and hexes that make garment waterproof, wrinkle-free, and mold-resistant." He continued on, blabbering about the clothes out of all things while the two teenagers just basically stared at Tenebrae blankly. "The design is meant to evoke Ratatosk's fierce bravery and subtle grace. The effect is mesmerizing."

At this, Lillian snorted into laughter. "Ha…hahaha! Graceful! That's a good one, Tenebri. I really needed a laugh there." She fake-wiped a tear from her eye,

"Do not insult Lord Ratatosk that way!" Tenebrae snapped, looking at her with a slight glare. "I don't tolerate any offensive words against Lord Ratatosk."

She clicked her tongue, "Touchy, touchy."

"W-Wait a sec. I-I have another question." Emil waved his hand around, trying to catch Tenebrae's attention. He turned to Emil questioningly.

"And that is?"

"What happened to the clothes I was wearing before?" He tilted his head curiously, still fiddling with his scarf.

Tenebrae's eyes lit up, "Ah, that's the darkness'—ah, no, no." He backtracked, shaking his head, "Please forget I said anything." With that, he trotted ahead leaving Emil behind.

"The darkness' what?"

The Centurion of Darkness started humming happily to himself, sparing a glance to Emil before trotting away with his tail wagging around mischievously. Emil blinked for a moment before he made a noise of worry before he ran towards Tenebrae, anxious.

"Hey, come on! Tell me! If I lose those clothes then Aunt Flora would get angry at me!"

Tenebrae chuckled darkly, his chuckle was similar to Lillian's laugh. Why they don't get along was beyond him. "Only the darkness knows." He practically sang the last part there.

He whined in the back of his throat, Lillian patted Emil's shoulder roughly causing him to nearly stumble over again. She gave a loud laugh, repeatedly patting him like he was a pillow. "Don't worry, Emil! At least these clothes are much better than your other ones!"

Emil frowned before he did a double-take, "Wait, you thought my clothes are awful?"

"Uh…" Her eyes darted around for a moment before she forced an awkward laugh, waving her hand around. "N-Naaaah, your clothes aren't awful!" She scratched her head sheepishly, looking away. "Just…terrible…?" Tenebrae snorted while Emil frowned, Lillian snapped her fingers exaggeratedly. "Oh well, look at that! I better…scout the area! Yeah, scout. Um, uh…bye!"

With ran away from Emil with a clear 'Eeeek' from her, he just watched as Lillian ran away with sweat rolling down his forehead. Tenebrae paused next to Emil, watching Lillian as she ran away without even sparing a glance back. He mused for a moment, before giving a sidelong glance towards Emil.

"She certainly has an interesting character." He said dryly,

"…Y-Yeah…"

"It's rather rare to find humans like her."

"You've met someone like Lillian, Tenebrae?" Emil looked over to him curiously,

"Only a handful over the years, needless to say, it's hardly boring with them around. Lord Ratatosk would agree with me." His tone sounded rather distant, like he was remembering about the past. Emil looked down to Tenebrae to see him smiling a bittersweet smile.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "…I see…" He grew silent, wondering if those people like Lillian made an impact or something. It made sense if they did, people like Lillian were hard to forget. "Hey, Tenebrae, about those people you've met. What were they lik—?"

A loud, high-pitched scream resounded throughout the cave causing everyone to grow stiff. A sense of dread filled his body, he shivered on how loud and _near_ it was. His eyes widened, realizing that was the same direction where Lillian ran off to.

"…That…Lillian?!" He shouted,

He ran towards the direction of the scream with Tenebrae following closely behind, he promised the mayor he would protect her and he couldn't let them down anymore. He could let anyone down anymore.

"Lillian! Are you all right?!" He subconsciously held the handle of the sword that was strapped to his back, ready to attack anything. Lillian stood in front of Emil, her whole body trembling. He ran to her, holding her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She didn't reply, her mouth was closing and opening like a fish out of water. She lifted a shaky finger to what was in front of them, Emil turned to see a short purple monster standing in the pathway. "…A monster?"

"No you dumb idiot! That's the cutest thing to have ever existed! It's an imp!" She declared followed by another set of girlish squeals as she practically hugged herself joyfully, "It's been my _dream_ to meet and befriend an imp personally! They're so cute! Small and deadly, soulless eyes, creepy faces, and I bet they have a cute voice to boot!"

"…H-How do you find creepy…as cute?" He whispered to himself,

Lillian smacked him on the shoulder, "Excuse _you_, and don't judge my preferences, Emil!"

"Ah, an imp. This will do nicely! Good choice, Lillian." Tenebrae grinned to himself before looking at Emil with a serious gaze, "Let's form a pact."

"A-A pact?"

"Your power as a Knight of Ratatosk is granted to you by Lord Ratatosk himself." He looked away, a bit sadly. "But, Lord Ratatosk is currently in a deep slumber. As a result, the power he grants you is very weak."

Emil looked at his hand for a moment, "This is weak? That's unbelievable…" He trailed away, staring at his fingerless gloved hand.

He nodded his head, "Lord Ratatosk is _very_ powerful. As you gain experience and grow your abilities, it's crucial you continue to unlock more of his strength."

"Richter wasn't kidding that he could probably destroy the world." She muttered to herself, staring at her necklace for a moment. They were silence for a moment before she eyed Tenebrae, "…Could he destroy the world?"

Tenebrae mulled that over for a moment, "Yes. It is possible if he uses his full power, but Lord Ratatosk doesn't wish for that." He seemed to pause suddenly but shook his head,

"But…how am I supposed to unlock his strength?" Emil mused out loudly, staring at Tenebrae with questioning eyes.

"It's simple. We Centurions share a bond with Lord Ratatosk. If power is restored to the Centurions, Lord Ratatosk's strength will return as well. We can accomplish this by forging pacts with monsters." Tenebrae explained, Lillian tapped on her chin.

"Hmmm…So he really is a Monster Lord, gaining the power through monsters." She suddenly beamed, slapping Emil on the back. "Just like you! You're made for each other. Expected of the wife of Ratatosk! Make pacts with monsters and awaken your husband."

Emil gave her a look before bluntly ignoring her and turned back to Tenebrae with a hum, "Hm…how am I supposed to do that?"

"As explained earlier, Centurions do not engage in battle themselves. We use monsters under our control." He explained carefully, "A Centurion's power depends upon the number and strength of the monsters it employs. I am the Centurion of Darkness, so any pact you make with dark elemental monsters will bring them under my control, and make me more powerful in the process." He continued on, halfway through and Lillian was already lost. It was a miracle Emil nodded his head in understanding.

"So…the more monsters I get on my side, the stronger I'll become." He summed it all up, Lillian scratched her head.

"That's correct."

She scowled, growling in her throat. "Say that earlier, stupid. I swear, old people these days…" She grumbled under her breath, Tenebrae shot her a glare. She glared right back.

"So…how do I make a pact?" Emil broke in before they would be at each other's necks again.

"Like this!" With that, Tenebrae darted over to the imp. He casually shoved it down causing it to turn around in anger, he held out his swords and started speaking in a weird monster language that Lillian swooned over. Meanwhile, Emil looked horrified at this when the imp glared at _him _and not Tenebrae.

"W-What are you doing?!"

Tenebrae looked at Emil like nothing happened, "In order to make a pact, you must prove you are more powerful than your opponent. You must force them to yield to you in battle."

"You didn't tell me this!" He whined,

"Well…now I just told you. Ah, it comes!" Tenebrae gestured to the imp who was now approaching the group angrily, floating in the air.

"_EHHH?!"_

Lillian clicked her tongue and took out her sword, "Jeez, Emil. Pay attention! You shouldn't have dazed out like that!" She shook her head.

"But you were the one who was dazing out—WHOA!" He stumbled back when Lillian shoved him away, the imp already lashed out, waving his swords and brandishing them for effect.

She hopped away, leaning against a large boulder. "Ah," She sighed out in delight, "The imp looks so _cute _stumbling around like that."

Emil slid across the ground, his eyes turned vivid red once again as he grabbed his sword strapped on his back. He unsheathed it with a twirl, immediately blocking the sword of imp. For something small, it was pretty powerful—but slow. He pushed the imp forward, causing it to stagger mid-air, Emil slashed his sword wildly for a moment before he thrust his sword upward causing the imp to be airborne.

"Oi! Aren't you going to do anything?" He shouted to the light haired brunette who was watching with a rather disturbing smile.

She blinked, "Oh, was I supposed to do something? I thought you could handle yourself since you lost in our bet before. Plus, I don't want to miss out a chance to see you get hurt." Before Emil could snap, Lillian darted forward and gave a heel kick to the imp but it managed to dodge it the last minute frantically. It was surprising how Emil was much harsher compared to the cute meek Emil she knew, but she found it entertaining to make fun of him in his other mode.

She clicked her tongue, "Still adorable."

"_Havoc Strike!" _

The imp staggered back before it was suddenly kicked by Emil, he was practically ganging up on it. Poor imp.

Lillian's eyes widened when she realized that the imp locked onto her this time, he slashed his sword repeatedly causing her to shout a curse before dodging. Was it angry?

The imp let out loud yelling noises.

Yep, it was angry.

She stumbled for a moment and was about to fall backwards but she felt something hard hitting her back. She looked up, Emil's blazing red eyes started at her, unimpressed. "Watch your step. You're in the way."

"That's for the concern." She said dryly,

The imp attacked once again, they both dodged before Lillian came towards the imp with a smirk, her eyes lowered in playful delight. The imp paused for a moment, his hollow black eyes staring right back at her. She took this chance to kick it again. There was no way she would use her sword just like Emil.

It let out a cry, falling to the ground and unable to get up.

"Now, forge the pact!" Came Tenebrae as he manifested next to Lillian.

At this, Emil nodded his head and approached the imp with his hand held out. A glyph of red and purple flashed underneath them, power swirled around Emil and the imp as they had a stare down—probably to show dominance. His red eyes stared deeply into the imp, while in return, it just stared at Emil.

Lillian sheathed her sword, watching as the mana coiled around her hand. "…Magic?" She muttered out, turning to Tenebrae who was sitting next to her. The glyph disappeared, leaving nothing behind. The imp was healed, probably from the magic used.

It meekly flew over them, lowering its head in submission. Emil's eyes reverted back to green, he blinked rapidly and turned to the imp with eyes wide. "His name…His name is Aurum." He looked up to the others.

"Well done, Emil. From now on, this imp is our ally." Tenebrae congratulated, Lillian on the other hand was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Good job, Emil! Now we have a monster friend! This is so exciting." She rubbed her hands together, still grinning widely.

Aurum's hollow eyes landed on Lillian, staring at her intently. She blinked before looking around uncomfortably, her eyes landed on Tenebrae in a pleading manner but he just shrugged with that annoying way of his causing her to scowl immediately. Slowly, the imp flew over to her as if he was waiting for her to lash out suddenly.

But then, Aurum flew excitedly into Lillian's chest and hugged her with a coo. She blinked rapidly before she broke into a grin, hugging the imp back with a bright smile. "You're so cuuute! As cute as Emil but cuter!"

The imp snuggled even closer but suddenly shot a smug smirk towards Emil. He blinked, staring at the imp in confusion before looking at Tenebrae questioningly.

The Centurion of Darkness shrugged his shoulders, "It would seem that the imp has grown attached to Lillian. But fear not, it's still bounded to you."

"I…I'm not worried about that. I mean the way it…" He looked back to the imp, Aurum noticed Emil staring and just gave a smug smirk before haughtily turning away and lavishing itself with the affection Lillian was showering him. He felt confused, why was the imp acting so…arrogantly? He didn't mind it, but he wondered why.

Then he remembered something, "Hey, um," He turned to Tenebrae, "That Aqua…she's centurion, right? Will I get stronger if she has more monsters under her control?"

"No, Aqua…she chose to sever her bond with Lord Ratatosk. As such, even if she acquires more monster servants, your power will not increase." He said rather bitterly.

"There are other Centurions, right?"

"Yes. You will learn about the others in due time. But you may enter into pacts with monsters without the Centurion of the same element." He said, "Later, when you befriend the appropriate Centurions, your strength will increase accordingly."

Emil sighed, his shoulders sagging. "That's nice and everything, but I only became a Knight of Ratatosk because I needed to fight now. I'm not really interested in getting any stronger than this."

"Now, now…there's not harm in arming yourself with little information." Tenebrae looked a little disappointed at that fact.

Lillian came forward, the imp floating next to her shoulder. "That's…rather half-hearted." She lowered her eyes at this.

"What do you mean? Did you say something?" Emil curiously turned to her, she just broke into a sudden smile.

"Ah, nothing important. It's just…um, Tenebri really wants you to increase your strength, y'know." She said, glancing at Tenebrae for a moment. "Plus, it's better to be stronger since…you may never know what would be thrown at you. Best be prepared knowing how the world is like."

Emil shook his head, "I rather stay the same."

She grew quiet before she turned to the imp, patting his cheek with her hand. The imp gladly snuggled closer, "…I see."

Silence loomed over them. Emil shifted, feeling uncomfortable with the atmosphere and looked away quickly. Tenebrae cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "Also, to makes pacts, you will need the pact magic appropriate for each monster." He said quickly, shifting the atmosphere again.

His green eyes looked up curiously, "Is that so?"

"Yes. When you have subdued a monster you wish to make your ally, I will cast the pact magic."

"I'm not sure I understand, so I'll leave it to you."

"Yes, I'll do my best."

Lillian smiled, approaching Emil with a sly smile. "Now then, let's go and find more monsters to make pacts with! After all, we do need to wake up Emil's husband." She lowered her eyes mischievously, Emil groaned and covered his face with his hand.

"Again?"

"Speaking of which, hey Tenebie?" She turned to the Centurion of Darkness curiously, "My necklace has magic too, right? Like the Sorcerer's Ring because I made a vow right?"

"Correct."

She suddenly grinned from ear-to-ear, "And it reacts to when Emil goes into his…other self, right?"

Neither Tenebrae nor Emil liked where this was going, "…Yes…?" He replied uncertainly, eyeing Lillian for a moment.

"If that's the case…" Her eyes had a dangerous glint, she suddenly appeared in front of Emil with a grin. He flailed backwards, stepping away from her. "Emil, switch your personalities right now."

"E-_Ehhh?_ B-But, I don't know how to…" He trailed away,

"Nonsense! You know how! So show me! Show me!" She chirped, approaching Emil with her eyes sparkling as brightly as it can, a deranged smile on her face as she closed the distance between her and Emil. He began to panic, looking around for an escape but soon was being poked by Lillian repeatedly. "Show me, show me, show me, show me, show me!"

"No—ah! Stop, Lillian! Don't—ah! Don't poke me! Stop!" He begged, screwing his eyes shut and tried to push her away but she continued poking and prodding him. He squeaked and squirmed, "Lillian! Stop—that tickles! Stop, Lillian! Don't! Stop!"

"Oh? "Don't stop" you say? Well, don't mind if I do!" She began laughing hysterically as she continued poking Emil, he poked his stomach, hips, arms, and whatever she found that was ticklish.

Suddenly, Emil opened his eyes revealing the same bloody red eyes. Her necklace immediately shined to life, "I said _stop! _You're being a complete nuisance!"He exploded, glaring at her. Lillian just grinned and backed away, raising her hands up.

"Now, now. No need to get so worked up, Emil." She teased, "Ratatosk mode Emil is really blunt."

"Ratatosk mode? That's a stupid name," He scoffed,

"Do you want to be called a psychopath instead, Emil? I'm willing to call you that as well." She retorted with a scowl, Ratatosk Emil was seriously blunt. She wondered if this is what Emil's personality would be if he was cold instead of meek.

He glared at her, "I am not a psychopath."

"Hah! Could have fooled me."

"Rather than me being a psychopath, don't you think that we should agree with Tenebrae's comment and call you pipsqueak?" He gave a smug smile when Lillian immediately began to bristle in anger. Her eyes narrowed as she took a step forward in a challenging manner.

"Say that again."

"You heard me, _pipsqueak_."

Lillian's hands almost, _almost _wrung his neck but she just took deep breaths for a moment before giving a strained smile, "At least I'm not the _wife _of Ratatosk." Emil's eyes widened as he began spurting out words incoherently then glared, talking a challenging step forward.

"You wanna fight?"

"Bring it on, wife."

A storm was exchanged between the two, flames burst within their eyes wordlessly.

"Oh dear," Tenebrae said nonchalantly,

And then, all hell broke loose.

With battle cries, they immediately begun their war than included a lot of scratching, hitting, and pulling. Lillian grabbed Emil's cheeks and pulled on them harshly, unaware that her nails scratched against his arms. Emil hissed in pain and pulled down on her hair in revenge, immediately rubbing her knuckles on her head. They continued their fight to the point they started to see who can knock down and sit on first. And it looked like Emil was winning.

Tenebrae sighed while Aurum looked angry. The Centurion of Darkness looked over to the imp then back at the fighting teenagers "…I wonder how this journey will turn out."

More insults and cries were heard. He couldn't help but sigh one more time. He had a feeling that this might be a common occurrence.

**-x-**

Lillian and Emil were walking side by side while Aurum was in the shadows as ordered by Tenebrae—it was something about training to be stealthy since the imp was a darkness based element. But Lillian knew that Tenebrae just wanted to command the imp around.

After their fight that included much scratching, hitting, and pulling, they both had multiple scratches and marks on the skin. Lillian stretched her arms out, wincing at the pain for a moment before turning to Emil. "Since we can make monsters into allies…would that mean we can invite really powerful or rare monsters too?"

Emil rubbed his chin, hissing under his breath at the bruise that was formed. "…I think so. Bu-But wouldn't that be a bit…terrifying?"

"Nonsense, if that imp bowed down to you after you made a pact then I'm for sure that they would serve under you without any restraint."

Tenebrae hummed in the back of his throat, "Well, it is possible. But it all depends on the one who makes the pact, it's all about asserting dominance." He said, his tail flickering from side to side. Lillian and Emil exchanged glances for a moment.

"Dominance, huh. Something like Richter? I can never do something like that…"

Lillian yawned, stretching her arms into the air. "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality." She said in way like she was a teacher reprimanding Emil. He seemed to pause for a moment, turning to her in surprise at that. "You should never say you can't do it unless you tried, Emil. I have absolute faith in you, y'know." She slapped his back causing him to yelp in pain, she flinched back. "…Oops?"

He rubbed his back, wincing.

A growl came from the shadows, until something blue darted out from the shadows. Emil recoiled which surprised Lillian causing her to nearly fall over again. The imp shot out from the shadows, swords out and standing in front Lillian with a protective growl. The wolf and the imp had a stare down at one another, growing and glowering.

"Oh?" Tenebrae said, "That's a wolf—just what we're looking for. Try making a pact with him."

"Ehhh?" He turned to Tenebrae and pointed meekly at the imp who was still glaring, "But I just made a pact with this monster, right?"

"Yes, but I'll teach you a way to make forming pacts easier."

"There's an easier way?" His eyes darted back the snarling wolf, Tenebrae nodded his head.

"Yes. You can make monsters under your control fight beside you." He turned to the imp who was saying things in an incomprehensible language. "If your ally and the enemy are compatible, the pact will go smoothly. Use the imp and subdue this wolf."

Emil hesitantly nodded his head, "O-Okay…" He reached for his sword and whirled it out, his eyes turned back to the blood red color.

"Alright, more monsters!" She grinned wickedly, lowering her eyes and reached for her sword but the imp flew over and pressed his hand against arm lightly and shook his head quickly, saying something more incomprehensible monster language. She blinked rapidly, "W…What?"

Tenebrae appeared next to Lillian, "Seems like the imp doesn't wish to let you fight this battle, Lillian." The imp looked at Tenebrae and nodded, the Centurion of Darkness smirked. "And it seems he wants to show his own power."

Another nod.

Lillian turned to the imp, "Are you sure about this?"

A nod.

"Sure?"

Another nod.

"Sure, sure?"

Two nods.

"Sure, sure, like posi—"

"We got it already!" Emil shouted, blocking the wolf's fangs before kicking it away. "Help me out here!"

Aurum turned to Emil before he flew over without any warning. Lillian just watched before she groaned out in irritation, scratching her head furiously, "Does everyone don't want me to fight or…?" She took out her sword just in case and watched the imp and Emil move accordingly. The wolf's claws slashed Emil's arm causing him to hiss out in pain and stumbled back.

"…Ah, still looks cute to see him like that." Lillian out in admiration, her hand on her cheek.

Tenebrae gave her a look.

"That's sadistic."

"Sorry for being born that way." She replied dryly,

Sooner or later, the wolf was subdued and a pact was formed with Aurum standing right next to Emil. Instead of Emil having their little dominance fight, Aurum was glowering at the wolf which whimpered for a moment before it howled suddenly. Then the magic was gone. As soon as it vanished, the wolf trotted up to Emil and waited to be petted while Aurum flew over to Lillian and into her chest. It was like he was saying "Are you proud of me?"

Lillian rubbed his head, "You did good, Aurum. A very good job!"

He cooed in joy.

Emil approached Lillian, his eyes green. "His name is Gale."

She furrowed her eyebrows at the name, still holding the imp in her arms. "…Gale? Where did you get that from? Wait, where did you get the name Aurum from anyways?"

"Well…while I was making the connection I heard the monster's name."

Tenebrae trotted up to them with the wolf in a tow, "Each and every monster has a name, once the pact is made then the name of the monster will be sent to you telepathically." He explained before nodding his head rather proudly, "Well done, Emil. Now the wolf has also become our ally."

Emil blinked, looking at Aurum then Tenebrae curiously. "Why is making pacts easier depending on the monster you have fighting with you?"

"Monsters have compatibility with each other. The type and strength of the monsters you befriend also have an effect on pacts."

Lillian grinned at that, "I wonder what Emil is compatible with?" She said slyly, lowering her lashes playfully. The imp had escaped her hold and was now over with the wolf, probably instructing something. "Maaaarta?" She teased,

He turned a bit red on that before giving her a look, "Lillian…" He whined before pouting, Lillian melodramatically clawed her chest.

"Ugh, what power! The adorableness, it kills! My spleen, my spleen! Oh no, now it's my ribs!" She shouted dramatically, she thought of falling to the floor for the heck of it but then Tenebrae might scold her for wasting time so instead, she just clawed her chest. "It's…the end…for me…"

Emil furrowed his eyebrows, looking lost. Did he miss something…?

"Let's get going you two, I already sent the monsters to scour the area." Tenebrae looked amused for a moment, he gestured ahead with his head. And it was true, Aurum and Gale were nowhere to be found. Lillian straightened up her clothes before patting Emil's shoulder.

"You need to be healed right? Here," She took out an apple gel, Emil offered her his arm to Lillian as she smeared the gel onto the wound then wrapped white bandages, covering the gel. Emil hissed when she accidentally tied it too tightly. She winced, "Whoops, sorry."

He rubbed his arm, "N-No, it's fine…ow."

"Good job on treating him, Lillian. I didn't know that the wound was bad enough to be amputated." Tenebrae said dryly, Lillian growled darkly and glared at him. Tenebrae just smiled to himself before trotting away.

"I'll kill him, I swear." She muttered darkly, "With the monsters we made pacts with. He will suffer."

Emil followed the muttering Lillian as they continued their way through the cave. There were no signs of Richter or Marta. Emil carefully looked around while Lillian was still muttering to herself until Aurum suddenly rammed into her again and snuggled before leaving as quickly as he came leaving Lillian stunned but she didn't mind.

"That monster really joined us?" Emil muttered in disbelief, watching as the imp vanished into the darkness.

"Bravo!" Tenebrae suddenly cheered for no reason,

"Huh?"

"Beautiful! Fantastic! Excellent! I must admit, I am quite impressed."

Emil flushed in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head. "R-Really…?" He felt bashful with all the praises Tenebrae was giving him.

"Of course, that monster is ideal for beginners. I would be rather concerned if you had failed."

And now his hopes were crushed as he sighed, he knew he shouldn't have taken his words seriously.

"Oh, _buurn._" She nudged Emil with her elbow, Tenebrae and Lillian exchanged winks for no reason. Emil just sighed again. He wondered if they really got along or not.

They continued their way through the cave, defeating monsters along the way until they reached a dead-end. Gale was scratching his ear before he got up and ran towards Lillian, staying near her presence while Aurum was farther away to warn them if any enemies would come by. Lillian bended over to ruffle his fur, it was a bit dirty but something a bath could handle perfectly.

"Hm? What's this?" Emil's hand brushed against a soft, weird feeling thing. Something hard was behind it but the moss was in the way. Tenebrae observed the moss for a moment before nodding his head.

"Try using the Sorcerer's Ring."

"The ring?"

"Yes. Point the ring at the moss."

He did so. The ring shined and flames spewed out, burning the moss off from the wall revealing a switch. Emil creased his eyebrows before hesitantly pressing it.

Behind them, the wall rumbled angrily until a part of it suddenly opened. Lillian jolted at the sound, turning to Emil who looked as surprised as Lillian. They ran towards the new pathway, Lillian observed it with Gale sniffing the ground for anything suspicious.

"Th-The wall opened?"

"This may lead to where we need to go. Let's proceed."

"Eh, uh, o-okay…"

Lillian frowned for a moment, "Is this what caves are like…?" She muttered to herself,

"Lillian?"

She looked up, realizing that Emil was looking at her with a bewildered expression. Lillian tossed her shoulders, "Nah, nothing really. Let's go."

"…Okay…"

**-x-**

Lillian's eyebrow twitched as she stared at the door, the one that was supposed to open but was locked because of Richter. If only, if _only _he didn't locked this damn door then everything would proceed much faster! She felt dread pooling in her stomach. Was Marta okay? Did Richter…no, she couldn't think that. She couldn't help but wonder if Richter was okay too.

But dammit, why'd he have to lock the door? Because he didn't want them to interfere? He was planning to murder a sixteen year old girl because of this Ratatosk core, and they unknowingly helped him. She cursed to herself, glaring at the door before kicking it. She didn't know what to feel.

Guilt?

Anger?

Sadness?

Worry?

Fear?

Most defiantly guilt and anger, both at Richter and at herself. Richter was a nice person, she knew that. She didn't know him long enough to say that he was a nice person but she trusted him. She really trusted him. He protected Emil. He helped Emil. He taught Emil. If he actually terrible then he wouldn't give a damn about Emil and his well-being.

There was a sudden gasp, "Richter!"

Lillian turned to see Emil running at full speed towards something…_someone_. Her eyes landed on the person kneeling on the ground, holding onto his sword for support. Blood matted on the person's back, seeping through the clothes dying it red. Red…red…

Red hair.

Her eyes widened in horror.

It was Richter.

Emil wasted no time and knelt beside him, his green eyes filled with complete terror and fright.

"R-Richter, hang in there! Just what happened…" His voice trembled, trying to contain his fear that bubbled in his throat. Cold sweat trailed down his forehead, he needed to do something. Something, something…!

Richter's eyes flickered to Emil, it was hazy and unfocused. But it widened slightly, he groaned in pain, "I…I was careless. Lloyd…" He began,

"…Huh?"

"Ll…oyd…Irving…he…"

Lillian slid across the ground, supporting him as well. "Richter, don't talk. You'll make things worse." She repeated the same words Ash told her when she received a bad injury, she shuddered slightly at the sight of blood. Emil went completely still. For a moment, she thought his eyes were about to turn red when anger flashed in his expression.

"…Lloyd? You mean the servant of the Chosen of Regernation?!"

"H-He…the core…" His voice went hoarse, his grip slackened and Lillian automatically grabbed him before he could fall onto the ground.

"_Richter!"_

Lillian cursed loudly, "Shit—the wounds!" Emil reached to shake him awake in fear that he was gone but Lillian slapped his hands away, "Idiot! You'll make things worse!" She shouted, glaring at him then back at Richter as his whole weight was on her. She winced on the weight as she tried to stay upright.

The Centurion of Darkness approached them, observing the unconscious Richter. "It's all right. The attack missed his vital organs."

He turned to Tenebrae, "Richter…he can be saved, right?" He looked up to Lillian for some sort of approval. "Right?"

Lillian was silent. Apple gels won't work with a back wound like this. He needed proper medical attention, she didn't have enough bandages to cover up the wound as well. If the blood continued to seep out of his wounds then he'll die of blood loss, but if it somehow stopped then he'll feel fatigued and won't be able to fight properly. She swore under her breath.

"Yes. Just leave him here and he will be fine. It is more important to go after Lady Marta."

His eyes widened, "Leave him here? We can't do that! We need to at least tell someone." He retorted,

"There's no time." He voice was firm, "Now that Lloyd has appeared, time is of the essence. Lady Marta's life is in grave danger. After all, this man is the enemy. Didn't you come here to protect her?" He looked at Emil, an eyebrow cocked up—somehow mockingly.

Emil grew silent before he nodded his head, "I did…" His eyes lowered turning to Richter, "…But I can't just leave him like this. Richter said some mean things, but he also helped me. I can't just abandon him now."

Tenebrae grew silent, watching Emil very carefully with his gaze lowered.

"Go on ahead and find Marta. I'll follow you as soon as I can!"

He was silent before letting out a loud sigh, "I believe you will regret this decision, but it is yours to make." He said reluctantly, turning towards the door. Emil looked back to Richter who was now resting on the ground and stood up.

Lillian still sat on the floor, deep in thought before she sighed out loudly and reluctantly stood up as well, "Aurum!" She shouted, "Come here!" She looked into the shadows and Aurum appeared, flying over to her excitedly. Lillian patted his head, "I want you to watch Richter until Emil returns for help. I will go with Tenebie and find Marta," The imp nodded understandingly. She turned to Emil, her eyes somber for once. "Your kindness is very naïve, Emil. But I trust you. Help Richter and I'll take care of Marta, okay?"

Emil blinked, "…Lillian…" He muttered before nodding his head. "Okay, I will. But…But promise me that you'll be safe."

She snorted, crossing her arms. "Who do you think you're talking to?" She said rather smugly,

He was silent, looking at her before they exchanged silent nods. Lillian turned to Tenebrae, nodding her head and approached the door, leaving Emil behind to tend to the unconscious Richter. The door opened with a loud thud when it sensed a presence.

"Lillian!"

She turned around questioningly, her eyebrows raised. He stared at her somberly, "…Stay safe."

Lillian just grinned and offered a peace sign before she walked ahead, letting the door slam close behind her. Aurum watched as the door close then hovered over Richter, watching him very carefully before nodding his head. He hovered lower and stood on the ground, watching Richter carefully.

Emil growled to himself, turning his heel, "…Lloyd Irving…" He murmured darkly, glaring ahead. _"I'll never forgive him…"_

**-x-**

**A/N: You know how much I love TOS: DoNW's main fighting song? So much that it's my battle theme music for every fight in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 and Arena fight. Tbh, I didn't know it was from TOS: DoNW but I was like "Oh damn this is my jam!" and then I used it 9ever. **

**Next chapter will feature Lloyd Irving and his redness, also he's awful mask he work. Ew. I wonder how Colette felt about it.**


	7. Lloyd Irving and Ratatosk

**A/N: Dun, dun dun! Here's chapter seven! As promised "Til' the end of Time" will be deleted. Thank your liking this story!**

**Now, to chapter seven!**

**I think I forgot to mention this, but **_**I don't own the story and its characters. Only Lillian and some OCs and some added storyline in this. I really don't.**_

**If I did then we'd get some sort of prequel story to Mithos and the gang. As well as what the hell happened between the ending of Symphonia and the beginning of Phantasia, I mean, c'mon, what happened to everyone? **

**Is Mint the descendant of Colette and Lloyd? Is Cless the descendant of Emil and Marta(Or Richter)? Is Arche a descendant of Presea and Genis? IS CHESTER RELATED TO REGAL?! Clearly Suzu is the descendant of Sheena (and Zelos huehue headcanon that he married into Sheena's family).**

**Enough of my ramblings, onto chapter seven!**

**-x- **

**Chapter Seven: Lloyd Irving and Ratatosk**

**-x-**

Emil ran through the cavern, towards the door that led to the exit. As soon as he entered, Aqua was floating there with a large frown on her face. She noticed him from the corner of her eye and turned to him angrily, "Oh, it's you." She said bitterly, glaring at him with spite.

"Aqua! You have to come with me!" His eyes darted back to where Aurum was protecting Richter, if Aqua was here then it won't be too late for Richter. He needed to recover fast at the same time he can't waste time here and catch up with Tenebrae and Lillian.

She scoffed bitterly, "Do you expect me to just go with you after what happened, huh?" She snapped, glaring at Emil.

"That doesn't matter right now!" Emil shook his head urgently and turned his head for a second, gesturing behind him frantically. "Richter's been hurt badly! Lloyd attacked him and we—"

Her head snapped up, eyes wide with shock. "What did you say?! That Lloyd again?!"

"I think he'll live, but I'm still worried. Hurry and help him!"

Aqua was silent before she studied him carefully, "You…You came back to tell me that?" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, giving him the same look Lillian would have sometimes. "…Hmm…You're kinda cool!" She giggled and grinned, "But nowhere as cool as Master Richter, though!"

Emil sighed out loudly, "An-Anways! Just come!"

"All right, take me to Master Richter. Quickly!"

He nodded his head and ran back to the unconscious Aurum with Aqua on the tow. It surprised him on how fast she would react for Richter. But then again, he would do the same thing too. Richter helped him throughout this and he was the one who rescued him from those bullies. He was a nice person and he didn't deserve this.

He saw Aurum still hovering over Richter carefully, looking around for any sign of danger then inspecting Richter again. When the imp noticed Aqua behind him, he automatically reacted and took out his sword and started yelling in some monster gibberish.

"Aurum, Aurum!" He held out his hands, blocking the seething imp who looked ready to take down Aqua with his glare. "It's okay, she's going to help Richter."

The imp stared at Aqua, observing her then scoffed loudly and turned around rather haughtily. Aqua's eyes narrowed at that.

Emil laughed nervously, "S-S-Sorry about him, he's…well…"

She rolled her eyes, "Just like that spiteful Tenebrae," She scoffed, but then her eyes landed on the unconscious Richter. Her eyes widened and she flew over to him, pushing the imp away who just scowled in response. "Master Richter!" She shouted, leaning over him.

Emil turned to him worriedly, kneeling down as well. "…Aqua, how is he?"

"He'll be fine." She said, observing him carefully. "He took a sword to the back, but that's not the reason he collapsed. It's the wound from two years ago…" She murmured to herself, holding her hand over to his body as a faint light glowed around him.

"A wound from two years ago…?"

Aqua looked over to him, and crossed her arms. "If you weren't my enemy, I'd tell you. Anyways, leave Master Richter to me." She said firmly, turning back to Richter.

He nodded his head, "All right, time to catch up with Lillian and find Marta." He said and turned towards the direction Lillian and Tenebrae had left, the imp perked up upon hearing Lillian's name and flew towards him without a second thought. "Lloyd's after her. I better hurry…"

"Hey, you!"

Emil turned around when Aqua called him, he tilted his head curiously. "…Yes?"

She stared at him deeply, like she was trying to think on what to say. "About that…" She caught herself, pressing her lips close before she shook her head. "No, never mind. Just go already." She turned back to Richter. Holding out her hand, she summoned the minions she made pacts with and took Richter away.

Emil wondered what was she was going to say but he shook his head and turned back to the stairs and headed up. The imp looked at Emil for a moment before he scowled and looked away with a huff, Emil just looked at him with a sigh. "Um…excuse me for asking." He said when they stood at the top of the steps. "Why…do you dislike me?"

Aurum just looked at him again before he turned around, scoffing again. He sighed, "So much for asking…" He muttered out then turned back to the door, he raised a hand towards it and it automatically sensed his mana presence and opened up.

With Aurum beside him, he ran inside the room with the door slamming close behind him.

…

Only to see swords clashing with one another.

His eyes widened when he thought he saw sparks fly but it was only metal hitting metal with the light reflecting from the blades. He looked to see a man with brown hair and wearing a red outfit squaring off with Marta…and Lillian. Marta whirled, holding up her spinner to deflect the attack and tried to slash him but he dodged easily. He attacked her but she managed to avoid it for a second.

"Marta!" Lillian shouted and thrust her sword forward but he blocked it with ease. She gritted her teeth when she tried to push him off balance but he just stood firm, she was suddenly kicked in the stomach hard, her breath was knocked out as she came crashing to the floor with her sword knocked out of her hold.

Marta's eyes widened as she ran to try to protect Lillian, she held her spinner defensively while Lloyd's eyes were trained on her and Lillian who held her stomach and coughed for breath.

"Lloyd." Emil muttered out in disbelief until he suddenly turned into complete anger, he snarled and stepped forward angrily. "Lloyd Irving!" He muttered darkly,

Lloyd turned to him, his eyes hard. "Who's there?!"

Emil's hands were curled into tight fists, "…Why did you kill them?"

"Emil?" Marta muttered, watching Emil bewilderedly.

Lillian grabbed her sword and stood up while wincing. He kicked her pretty hard, it's not surprising if she broke something or has a bruise. She looked over to Emil, who was staring hard at the ground.

"My mother and my father, and all those people in Palmacosta…why did you have to kill them?!" He snapped, looking at her with a glare. His whole body shook with anger, his hands twitched for his sword. Marta blinked rapidly, hesitantly turning to Lloyd for a moment.

Lillian felt her body grow cold for some reason, she stared at Emil in shock. "…Palmacosta…? You…"

Lloyd watched him carefully then closed his eyes, looking pained for some reason. "Again…with Palmacosta…" He trailed away, his grip on his swords loosened.

Emil looked furious, "What do you mean again?!" He demanded angrily, drawing his sword with a twirl. His eyes turned bloody red, "That…I'll never forgive you for that!" He roared, pointing his sword towards Lloyd. Marta changed her stance, getting ready for an attack while Lillian came to the middle.

With a roar, Emil charged forth with his sword aimed for his head. Lloyd deflected the attack easily, his brown eyes locked in Emil's raged red ones. With a dangerous look, he used his other sword and slashed at him, Emil barely escaped but the sword grazed his arm slightly. Lloyd wasted no time and swept his feet under him, knocking him down.

"_O healing power…_" Came the chant from Marta, Lloyd turned to her.

"_Double demon fang!_" He shouted, a shockwave came towards Marta which stopped her from casting while the other came towards Lillian which she managed to dodge the powerful attack. Lillian dodged to the side and charged after him.

Once again, their swords clashed. Lillian's eyes narrowed, "…I won't let you hurt them," She muttered darkly,

Lloyd made a noise in the back of his throat before he quickly attacked her again, Lillian tried to block it but the attacks were too fast for her to even move. Lloyd moved, using his pommel to hit her neck followed by kicking her across the ground. The impact immediately knocked her out, rendering her unconscious as she practically flew across the ground before coming to a stop, her sword clattered to the ground.

"Lillian!" Emil shouted and turned to Lloyd, "Damn you, Lloyd!" He roared but then he saw Marta flying towards him, landing next to him unconscious as well. Lloyd came up to Emil out of nowhere, startling Emil but then his breath was suddenly knocked out of him, a blunt pain in his stomach. He keeled over, coughing for breath.

His sword clattered to the ground, falling to his knees. Then something smacked hard against his neck, spots danced in his vision as he felt his consciousness suddenly slip away.

_No…I can't…not now…_

He fell to the ground, his eyes unfocused. Everything started to fade into black but the last thing he saw was Lloyd walking up the altar, towards the floating jewel in the middle.

**-x-**

Emil stirred for a moment, feeling extremely heavy for some reason. His bed felt rather hard and grainy, his home wasn't supposed to feel this cold—then everything came back to him. He quickly shot up, touching his entire body for any injuries. "I…I'm alive…" He muttered, realizing that he wasn't in the limbo and was actually standing here.

Beside him, Marta was watching him carefully. "I guess he decided not to kill us." She said carefully, watching his expression.

"Lady Marta!" Came a deep voice from the altar, they turned to see Tenebrae standing next to altar. "Centurion Lumen's core is…"

Marta gasped, running towards the altar in a hurry. "Gone!" She cursed under her breath, staring at the glowing altar with anger in her eyes.

"…Centurion Lumen's core? You mean that white jewel?" Emil came up to them, tilting his head to the side curiously. He looked at the empty glowing altar he saw earlier. "I saw Lloyd taking a white jewel with him."

She whirled to him, her eyes wide. "He took it with him?! Are you sure?!" She moved forward, pressing him further.

Emil flinched at her tone and took a step back, "Y-Yeah, was it important?"

"Yes." Everyone turned to Tenebrae, "Centurion Lumen's core is essential to our journey. Lady Marta, let's hurry."

She nodded her head, "Okay, but before that…" She turned to Emil, beaming brightly that it made Emil feel all strange inside. "Thank you, Emil. I'm so happy you saved me again."

Emil immediately turned red, he avoided her eye contact and looked away. "N-No…I didn't do anything. I mean, I was pretty much useless. L-Lillian was there to help you…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't say that! You became a knight, a Knight of Ratatosk to save me, right?" She beamed brightly, her cute little fang showing. "I always thought that you would make a wonderful Knight! It's true! That's what I thought when we first met…" She looked down embarrassingly, playing with her fingers.

Emil paused, "…Huh?"

Marta shyly looked down, blushing red. "It's okay!" She said, a bit high-pitched, "It guess that it just wasn't as memorable for you. But honestly, I'm very grateful to you for saving me. What would I have done without you?"

"U-Um…" He tried to say but the words died in his throat,

Tenebrae seemed to sigh, "Lady Marta, we need to go." He urged, watching them with an exasperated look.

Marta blinked and realized what she had done, she nodded her head. "A-ah, yes, you're right." She turned to Emil, "Emil, would you help us? Just until we make it out of this place?"

Emil was silent, watching her carefully before hesitantly nodding his head, "S-Sure…" He watched her carefully, she was kinda strange…he thought. But she wasn't as eccentric and strange like Lillian, Marta was more…tolerable than Lillian constant remarks and teases.

Then it suddenly hit him, "Lillian!" He shouted, suddenly occurred to him that Lillian was not teasing him during his conversation with Marta or even cursing out after being defeated.

He whirled around, his eyes scanning the floor only to see Lillian still on the ground except she was resting on the ground instead of sprawled like before. Hovering over her was Aurum who shook her frantically, the imp wasn't around during the fight…maybe Tenebrae pulled it into the darkness so it wouldn't get hurt.

He quickly jumped down the steps and ran towards the honey-brown haired girl, "H-Hey, Lillian! Are you okay? Lillian!" He shook her but she didn't stir, her chest moved up and down showing that she was breathing.

Marta was beside him, observing her. "I healed her right up, she had a couple of bruises but nothing serious. Lloyd knocked her out with his sword, she'll wake up sooner or later. Right now, its better if she rested—she almost cracked a rib during our fight before you came here." She said, her hand glowing and hovered over her body. She began chanting another healing spell for her.

Emil bit his lip, he promised that mayor she wouldn't get hurt…and now she was out cold. He nodded his head, "We need to get out of this place." He said to himself, gently lifting her up and carried her on his back. She was pretty light which made it easier for him to carry her. "Up we go." He positioned her so it'll be easier to carry her.

She observed Emil and Lillian for a moment, her eyes seemed to narrowed for a moment but she shook her head. "Let's go." She said rather irritatedly.

Aurum flew past Marta and towards Lillian, giving a sad coo and patted Lillian's cheek.

Emil smiled, "She'll be okay, Aurum."

Aurum huffed, looking embarrassed and looked away haughtily.

When Emil took a step forward but something gold glinted on the ground, he looked to see an ugly mask on the floor with a red covering on the eyes. He turned to Marta, "…What's that?"

She wrinkled her nose on the mask, "It was the mask that Lloyd was wearing earlier."

"It's tacky." Emil cringed,

"Yeah, super tacky." Marta wrinkled her nose even more,

"Very tacky, indeed." Came in Tenebrae, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Lillian actually laughed for five minutes when she saw that mask—tears and all, I was amazed that Lloyd actually didn't kill her during then." Marta commented, her eyes lowering in disgust on the mask. Emil sighed out loudly at that.

"…I expected that."

Marta picked up the mask, "Well, better not leave it. The tackiness might probably lighten our mood if something turned out horrible." She fiddled with the mask before tucking it into her pouch. She looked around then pointed at the door where Emil came out from before, "There, that's the exit."

They both walked towards the door, careful to not disturb Lillian. It took all of Emil's willpower to not laugh when her hair tickled his neck. They stood in front of the door, waiting for it to respond to them until Tenebrae raised an eyebrow up.

"How odd, it appears the door has been sealed from the other side." Tenebrae looked up to the two teenagers.

Marta cursed loudly, scowling. "Seriously?! This must be Lloyd's doing. I'm sure he did this to trap us in here, damn!"

The Centurion of Darkness turned to Marta, "Lady Marta, there is a draft. There must be another way out. Let's have a look around. Gale!" He called out, the wolf came out from the darkness. "Do you sense any other exit?"

The wolf whined for a moment, sniffing the ground before he ran around the altar and howled, sitting down. The howl was loud enough to stir Lillian from her sleep, she grumbled to herself and held onto Emil tighter with a loud whine and groan.

"Five more minutes, Uncle…I'm tired." She muttered, choking the life out of Emil.

He hacked and gasped for breath, his face was starting to change color. "L…Lillian…you're…_choking me_…!" He choked out, his hold onto Lillian weakening.

Her grip slackened in response causing him to gasp for breath. He heard Lillian murmur something incoherent as she stirred from her sleep, her eyes slowly cracked open revealing hazy blue orbs.

"Wha…Emil? Why are you…" She began before she yawned out loudly, rubbing the sleepy tears on her eyes. "Wait…HOLY CRAP!" Everything came back to her, shouting loudly and nearly caused Emil to fall over from her sudden movements. She looked around rapidly, trying to gather her bearings. "Wha…what happened? Where's Lloyd? What's going on? And _why_ are you carrying me? Ow, my head…"

Emil lowered her down, Lillian tried to stand up straight but she wobbled. Her legs felt like jelly and her whole body felt extremely sore. "My neck hurts, my body hurts, my everything hurts…" She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the most pain building up in her neck and her stomach. She hissed loudly, "Damn that Lloyd, I'm going to punch him in the di—"

"We don't need to hear such vulgar language, Lillian." Tenebrae quickly cut in before she could say anything, Lillian rolled her eyes and crossed her arms with a frown.

"Thank you for your concern," She said dryly, "Don't be such a child, Tenebie."

"Me, a child? You must be mistaken? _You're _the child, after all…no teenager has a height such as yours." He shot right back, smirking to himself when her eyes hardened. Lillian's hand hovered over her sword, ready to slice him into pieces.

Emil jumped in, waving his hands around. "D-Don't fight now! We need to get out of here and catch up with Lloyd!" He quickly said, grabbing her shoulder looking at Lillian intensely. "Right?"

With a scowl and a glare at Tenebrae, she reluctantly exhaled sharply in annoyance. Huffing, she turned her heel. She heard Tenebrae laughing to himself quietly causing her to scowl even more.

"Fine," Before she could even take a step forward, Aurum plowed into her chest with a loud excited chatter and Lillian nearly lost her breath. She struggled to breath but hugged the imp with a strained smile, "Wow, that was…surprising. It's nice to see you too, Aurum."

He cooed for a moment before he turned to Emil, shooting him a nasty look and followed by moremonster chatter. Tenebrae hummed to himself, "Seems that Aurum is blaming you for not protecting Lillian."

His eyes lowered at that, Marta shook her head rapidly and stood in front of Emil protectively. "No! Emil did his very best to protect both Lillian and I! You shouldn't blame him, Lloyd was too strong!" She shot back, glaring at the imp who glared right back.

Lillian patted his head, "That's right, no one is at fault here. Emil did his best. If you blame Emil again, I won't like you anymore." Mentally, she grinned when she saw the imp pale at that and hugged her tightly. Such childish words and the imp already fell for it. It was kinda cute. "That's a good little demon." She snickered,

Marta patted Emil's shoulder to reassure him, Emil glanced at the beaming girl before he looked away embarrassingly. That did not go unnoticed by Lillian who gave a breathy laugh, shaking her head. "Ah…young love."

"Indeed." Tenebrae commented, watching the two of them just look at each other like a pair of love struck fools on a first date.

Aurum flew out of Lillian's hold and towards Gale who was sniffing the door. Approaching them, Lillian was about to investigate what they were looking at until something caught her eye.

Glancing in the corner of her eyes, she turned to the poster. It was…apparently a picture of Lloyd Irving holding jewels and accessories made out of precious metals and gems. It would look nice—if only it didn't look like a five year old drew it. Lillian held her stomach and hooted in laughter.

"What the hell is this?!" She snorted here, trying to remember how to breathe. "It looks so damn _ridiculous_!" She keeled over, laughing hard. Her laughter echoed around the cavern, tears sprung up to her eyes and nearly rolled down her cheeks.

Emil and Marta observed it over her shaking shoulders, he squinted on the writing. "Jewel Hunter…Lloyd Irving is here." He said carefully, trying to make out the words. "What is this?"

"That _jeeeerk!_ It looks horrible! Burn it! Set it on fire!" Marta seethed in anger, shaking her fists towards the poster and stomped her foot. Against the wall, Lillian was still trying to remember how to breathe as she sobbed for breath.

"Don't…" A giggle here. "Don't burn it!" She looked at the drawing again and immediately shook into uncontrollable fits of laughter. "I'm going to die! Oh my gosh, it's so… so _awful!_" She pounded her fist on the wall, "It's like he's trying to reenact a phantom thief! So stupid!" Lillian slid against the wall, curling into a ball with her whole body shaking in laughter.

Everyone just stared at Lillian's laughing fit then turned back to the poster, Tenebrae's tail flickered to the side. "Emil, burn it for her."

"Burn it? Oh, that…" He aimed the sorcerer's ring at the poster, flames spewed out from the ring and burned the poster into a crisp. The poster burned into ash, falling into the ground. Marta stomped on it for good measure. Behind it was the same blue switch he had seen earlier when he burned the moss down.

"A…switch?" Emil tilted his head curiously, he approached it and hesitantly pushed the button.

There was a loud rumbling noise from the door which Gale was sniffing at, the wolf immediately jumped back and snarled, ready to pounce on anything that came from behind the door. When he was assured that nothing came from behind it, both Gale and Aurum ran through the door to scout it. The others ran towards the open door, Lillian was still giggling every now and then but she was sobering up.

Emil turned to them, his eyes huge with surprise, "The door opened!"

"Lucky!" Marta cheered with a fist pump, "Now we can go search for Lloyd!" She said excitedly, her eyes sparkling.

"But I'm only able to pick up a small trace of Centurion Lumen. It may be too late to follow them.

And the light died for her eyes as she scowled, "That can't be…"

"Hey, um, is this Lumen's core really so valuable that you'd fight over it?"

Lillian slapped his back again causing him to yelp, "Of course it is! Who wouldn't want to have monsters as your ally? It'll be the best thing ever! Imagine…your own army, following your beck and call! Aah…that's the life…" She sighed out in joy, her eyes twinkling.

A sweatdrop trailed down his forehead, Marta nodded her head. "Ah, that's right. I guess a lot of this doesn't make sense to any of you. To put it simply, the Centurions' cores are the eggs of Centurions like Tenebrae." She explained, "Lumen's core is the egg of Centurion Lumen."

"You might say that cores contain Centurions in hibernation." Tenebrae added,

Marta nodded her head, "And the core on my forehead is Ratatosk' core, and it's—"

"T-The demon lord's egg?!"

"He's not a demon lord!"

"Wow, rude! How can you say that to your husband, Emil!" Lillian scoffed, looking at him with mock disappointment. "Ratatosk will be so sad that his darling wife is saying such things towards his beloved, tsk, tsk."

"Husband…?" Marta muttered, looking at Lillian and Emil in confusion. Emil was pouting again and attempted to scold her but Lillian just grinned, whistling innocently.

"Lillian probably got the gist of it but perhaps we should take the time to explain all of this to Emil."

Marta nodded her head. "Yeah, but anyways, let's get out of here first." She gestured to the stairway ahead of them, everyone nodded their heads and headed towards the stairways.

Marta paused for a moment, watching Lillian when she tried to call out to Emil. She fidgeted for a moment before looking up, "Hey, um, Lillian!" She called out quickly before she could touch Emil.

Lillian pulled her hand away, turning to Marta curiously. Marta let out a sigh of relief when she didn't touch him. She walked towards Marta with a smile, her hands on her waist. "What's up, cutie?" She teased,

Marta flushed at the nickname, "D-Don't call me cute." She muttered embarrassingly, Lillian giggled at that. "But, um, what's your relationship with…Emil? Are you two…dating?" She gave an accusing look, watching for any movements of embarrassment or acceptance.

She blinked before bursting out laughing, _hard_. Marta looked a little lost, Emil turned back when she heard Lillian's laughter. He looked bewildered at Lillian suddenly laughing for no reason, her humor was a bit twisted.

"What's wrong?" He asked,

Lillian waved her hand, "Nothing, nothing…" Emil stared at her, frowning before he reluctantly looked back to Tenebrae to resume their conversation. Sheexhaled out, trying to calm herself. "No way, no way. Emil and I…_together_? Hah! That's hilarious!" She wiped a tear from her eye, "Emil is like…a brother…little brother? Yeah, little brother that I can make fun of!"

"Little…brother…?" She lowered her lashes in skeptically, "…Are you sure? Nothing…_more _than that?" She crossed her arms, her foot tapping on the floor demandingly.

She snorted, "Emil is like…a sibling I never had. I never did have siblings—I had friends whom I considered as my siblings but anyway, nothing more and nothing less. Besides, I don't even like Emil that way! Sure, he's cute and all but…I don't feel the attraction between us." She shrugged, "It'll be awkward if we liked each other or anything."

Marta hummed in the back of her throat, "Hmm…Are you sure?"

"Trust me, Marta." She patted her chest, "I know when I'm attracted to someone. Besides, Emil can't be attracted to me when he clearly has a thing for you." She chuckled, waving her hand around.

She blinked, turning red before she looked away sheepishly. "…He…Does he really like me?"

Lillian glanced to Emil slyly, "…Emil…He doesn't get along with girls that well, or people in fact. I bet he's probably amazed that he met a cute girl like you." She nodded her head and placed a finger on her chin in mock thought, giving a teasing glance at Marta. "In fact…if I remember correctly. When you rescued us from that bear, he did say 'He'd remember a cute girl like her.' Or something like that."

"He did?!" She squeaked in joy, her eyes twinkling brightly.

"Yup, Emil isn't used to interaction but I bet if you slowly get to know him then you'll snag his heart in a snap." She snapped her fingers for emphasis. Marta shyly wrung her fingers together, looking at Lillian with hopeful eyes.

"Y-You think so?"

"You're small, you're cute. What else? He'd fall for you, I'm sure."

Marta slowly beamed, "Th…Thank you." She flushed red and scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Hey, um, I'm sorry for accusing you for liking Emil or anything…"

She snorted, "It's fine, I'm not surprised. This once happened with Elliot and I." She shook her head with a laugh, "Besides, I know you like Emil so I don't want to step in your way, you're a nice person."

"Thanks!" She grinned brightly, it made Lillian want to hug her so tightly. Why was she surrounded by such cute people?! Did she die during some time in her life? Did the people above decided to grant her a great life from now on? Whatever it is, she felt blessed be with such cute people.

Emil came towards them, his eyebrows furrowed together deeply in thought before he looked up to Marta with somber eyes. "So, Marta, about this Ratotax…" He began,

Marta blinked, exchanging glances with Lillian who just grinned at his blunder. "It's not Ratotax, it's Ratatosk, you know." She said, looking a bit amused as well.

He nodded his head at that, "Ah, is that so? So, um, about Ratotox…"

"As she said!" Tenebrae broke in irritably, "It's Ra-ta-_**tosk**_!"

He groaned, frowning. In the background, Lillian mentally sighed out on how adorable he looked when he was angry. "Ahh, jeez, how bothersome!" He whined,

Tenebrae bristled in anger, "What do you mean 'How bothersome'?!" He snapped, glaring at Emil who flinched and backed away to see Tenebrae angry all of the sudden. "How rude! How would _you_ feel if someone where to call you Eh-mule?!"

Lillian clicked her tongue, "Touchy, touchy…" She muttered under her breath while Marta had a starry eyed look, her face flushed pink.

"Actually," She cut in, sighing dreamily. "Actually, my Eh-mule is quite the combination of strength and servility."

For a moment, Tenebrae softened a bit at the pun. Laughing to himself quietly, "As expected of Lady Marta, well played." He shook his head.

Lillian made a face while Emil sighed out, "So much for asking about Ratatosk…" He muttered to himself.

"Don't pull your leg over this, Emil." She patted him in the shoulder, he looked at her curiously.

"…Pull my leg? I'm not pulling my leg."

"…Never mind."

**-x-**

They headed up the stairs and through a small cave, moss starting growing on the walls as they grew closer and closer to the outside. Aurum and Gale were observing in the bushes and trees for any signs of enemies or ambush. Lillian stretched her arms into the air, looking around the greenery with a loud sigh. It was a vast area with slight trees and bushes but there was a crumbled building behind them, if she remembered correctly…that is the Tower of Mana, or what was left of it after the rampage of the Kharlan Tree.

"Fresh air!" She cheered, inhaling the smell of the nature. "Smells like home."

Emil looked around curiously, "Um…this is…?"

"I understand now…" Marta sighed out, clicking her tongue. Emil and Lillian turned to her questioningly, she placed a hand on her waist with another loud sigh. "This is where the Tower of Mana used to be. Lloyd and his companions came here on their journey of world regeneration."

"Oh, you mean the Chosen and the others?"

Marta looked away bitterly, "Yeah, them."

"So, it's a historical site for the Church of Martel." Emil pondered, tapping his finger on his chin in thought.

"Yeah, that's right. No wonder there are hidden passages, and of course, Lloyd would show up."

"Oh, so Lloyd's friends in the Church of Martel guided him."

"Probably."

Lillian turned to the cave entrance, "But I'm surprised that this leads all the way to Lakebed Sinoa." She crossed her arms, "Expected that no one knew this existed since Lake Sinoa was filled with water…but how did it came to be I wonder? Maybe it was made before Lake Sinoa was even created…that would be thousands of years ago."

Tenebrae materialized next to Marta, "I'm unable to sense Lumen's presence. It appears that Lloyd has escaped."

The maple haired girl sighed out, shaking her head. "We can't help it then, I guess we'll go back to Luin for now. Is that okay with you, Emil?"

"Y-Yeah…"

Lillian clapped her hands, "Yes, time to go home. I can't wait for Uncle to cook up something delicious for me to eat after my near death experience with Lloyd Irving!" She nodded her head, almost drooling on thinking about a feast someone might prepare for her.

Everyone turned to her with a look, Tenebrae snorted. "That's a bit optimistic, even for you, Lillian."

"Just like I always say, nothing is negative when it comes to food! All of the worries will go away when you're full! Besides, I'm hungry."

Marta and Emil just stared at her, their eyebrows furrowed together. They exchanged glances then shrugged their shoulders.

As they walked down the path, Emil tapped on his chin in thought before turning towards the others. "Why do you think Lloyd is collecting Centurions' cores?" He looked down-hearted for a moment,

Marta looked down as well, "That…he could be trying to exterminate anyone who resists the Church of Martel. I bet it's something like that…" She muttered, crossing her arms in thought.

Emil and Lillian's eyes went wide, they whirled to Marta. "That's why he's collecting them?!" Emil shouted in horror while Lillian was silent in thought.

"I don't know…but that time in Palmacosta…" She trailed away sadly,

Emil's eyes immediately turned dark, his eyes boiling in anger. "What happened in Palmacosta?" If Marta said anything wrong then there was a chance that Emil's eyes would revert back to that bloody red color.

Lillian covered her mouth with her hand in thought, "…Palmacosta…" She turned to Emil then at Marta.

Ah, n-never mind." Marta shook her head, "Anyway, he's teamed up with the Church of Martel to oppress the people of Sylvarant. So he must be gathering the cores for some lousy reason or another." She scowled, seething in irritation. "It makes me want to scream! Lloyd stands for lousy, with a capital L!"

"Yeah!" Emil nodded his head, "And that second L in his name stands for loser!"

"Children, please." Lillian cut in, giving a mock solemn look. "His L would mean lame! Or Laughable."

"Or even Lardaceous." Tenebrae joined the bandwagon. There was a moment of silence between the four of them. Emil, Marta, and even Lillian turned to him with blank looks.

Emil approached Marta who approached Emil, he looked at her in confusion. "What does that even mean?"

"Beats me."

Lillian snorted, "Tenebie's so old that he's using words from the past." She snickered, Tenebrae shot her a glare.

"I am not old!"

"Shh, shh…you're going senile."

"Do not test me, Lillian." He warned but Lillian rolled her eyes, snorting out loudly.

"Let's go before Tenebri might pop something," She said, walking ahead of the group. Aurum flew out from the bushes to rejoin Lillian, cooing happily. She walked through the outskirts of the ruined Tower of Mana humming some random tune before the disappeared somewhere.

Tenebrae growled in the back of his throat, "…The nerve of that girl." He grumbled to himself, reluctantly following Lillian out of the outskirts of the ruined Tower of Mana.

Emil sighed out, "…They just won't get along at all…"

Without a second thought, they followed Lillian as they headed towards the main road that led to Luin. It wasn't a long trip when they reached the main road, it was pretty fast in Lillian's opinion. They made a few pacts here and there and so they had monsters running around the forest under their command. They would appear when they would call them, Aurum on the other hand, preferred to stay where Lillian was at and often hanged around her shoulder.

Lake Sinoa wasn't that far from the Tower of Mana, which meant that Luin was really close-by. With the monsters in the Cave of Sinoa, it wasn't surprising why there were so many monster attacks in Luin itself. The whole place was infested with monsters, both cute and creepy. The creepy ones would be the damn spiders, hairy and so many _legs_. She shivered at that thought of spiders.

The imp warmed up slightly to Marta, only slight. But he completely hated Emil. No one knew why—aside from Tenebrae. The only person the imp was truly open towards was Lillian. He looked up to her, protected her, and hated it when Emil would approach Lillian until he was ordered to stand down by either Lillian or Tenebrae.

Lillian enjoyed walking, feeling the breeze softly caress her hair and skin, the sound of birds chirping, everything made it seem to peaceful, she really loved it. If only she could just find a perfect spot to lounge and probably nap for a couple of minutes.

She never did get chances to leave Asgard or Luin without being reminded to never go out, it felt rather oppressing to never leave Asgard or Luin. Her uncle was okay for her to leave unless she had an escort, which meant she didn't have time to laze around some comfy patch of grass or just _enjoy _nature without the guards screaming in the top of their lungs about monsters and such. They were even frightened by cute Filifolias and small monsters like that.

It was pretty stupid, honestly.

Marta stopped suddenly, Emil noticed her suddenly stopped and turned to back. He looked at her questioningly.

She looked around and nodded her head, "Why don't we take a break here? It'll give us a chance to explain to you about Ratatosk."

His eyes brightened up, "Oh, that's right. I want to know what's going on."

"All right then, let's settle down."

Everyone settled down on the ground, Marta sat on the rock, Tenebrae right next to her, Emil sat on a soft patch of grass while Lillian was sprawled completely against the grass. The wind tickled her skin, the breeze was just perfect that Lillian almost fell asleep right then and there. She inhaled and exhaled softly, allowing herself to relax for just a bit. Everyone seemed to bask in the warm breeze, Marta tucked her hair behind her ear with a smile.

Emil smiled a bit on how peaceful Lillian looked before turning back to Marta, Tenebrae observed them for a moment. "How much do you know about the world before its Regeneration by the Chosen, Colette?"

He pondered for a moment before hesitantly nodding his head, "I know a little bit…"

"As you know, our world was divided into two by the will of the Goddess Martel and the Hero Mithos. While the world was divided into two, Lord Ratatosk transformed into his core and became dormant."

Marta brushed her bangs up, showing the red jewel they saw earlier before. "That's the core on my forehead—Ratatosk's core."

Emil's eyes widened, "Y-You mean that's the demon Lord Ratatosk's egg."

Tenebrae sighed, "Lord Ratatosk is not a demon lord. He was a summon spirit of the Great Tree of old, and is the lord of all monsters."

"…Summon Spirit of the Kharlan Tree? You mean _that _Ratatoskr?" Lillian said from the ground, cracking a single eye open but closed it a second later. She had heard about this through her mother who often told her different stories.

"Ratatoskr?" Emil turned to Lillian who didn't even sat up, her eyes were still closed.

"Ah, yes. Ratatoskr was Lord Ratatosk's known name previously." Tenebrae commented, "Back in the old, Lord Ratatosk was referred in the ancient language as Ratatoskr.

"In order to awaken Ratatosk, we have to first awaken all of his servants, the Centurions, by hatching them." Marta said, lowering her hand. Her bangs brushed against her face, "That's why we're on a journey looking for the Centurions' cores."

Emil tilted his head curiously, "Why can't Ratatosk stay asleep?"

"If he's asleep, nature will be thrown off balance and destroy the world. For instance, Ratatosk's sleep is the reason why Lake Sinoa has dried up. And without him to oversee things, most monsters have cut ties with the Centurions they serve." Marta gestured to the plain, "So the monsters are running wild and causing the world's mana to fall out of balance."

"Even while Lord Ratatosk is dormant, the Centurions are supposed to form ties with monsters and maintain order. Yet, the Centurion of Water, Aqua, has allied with Richter, and is neglecting her duties." Tenebrae said rather bitterly, "Which is precisely the reason why we have seen one-related disaster after another. It's absolutely deplorable."

Now Lillian sat up, brushing her hair from the grass that got on them. "Would that mean the reason why Asgard is incredibly windy is because the Centurions and Ratatosk are asleep?"

"That would probably be so."

Emil looked at them for a moment, thinking deeply. "If all this is true, they why do you have to fight?"

"Lord Ratatosk is exceedingly powerful. Though they may not be as powerful as Ratatosk's core, Centurions' cores still possess remarkable powers." Tenebrae responded,

Marta sighed out, frowning to herself. "Some people are trying to get the cores for their own selfish reasons." She said bitterly, glaring to the side.

"Lloyd and Richter are among those people. Lady Marta recovered Ratatosk's core from them."

"But somehow the core managed to attach itself to my forehead. To tell you the truth, it's a bit frustrating." She grumbled to herself, touching her forehead where Ratatosk's core was resting. She could feel it pulse again.

Tenebrae looked at Emil who was thinking to himself, "Do you understand now?"

He hesitantly nodded his head, "Y-Yeah…I guess…"

Lillian was silent for a moment, musing this to herself. Rather, Richter didn't look like he wanted to use it—but rather, he wanted to _destroy _it. He looked completely hell-bent on smashing the core into pieces, especially on how angry he looked upon staring at it.

Marta stood up, "Well, we better head back to Luin before we continue anything else." She stretched her body, Emil nodded his head and helped Lillian up who dusted off her clothes.

The honey-brown haired girl was silent for a moment as Emil and Marta walked side by side towards the direction of Luin, Tenebrae noticed her silent musings and looked up to her questioningly. "What's the matter, Lillian?"

Lillian frowned to herself, "…Nothing, I'm just thinking about Richter. That's all."

He didn't answer back but looked on ahead, "…You pretend to be ignorant yet in truth, you are wise, how come?" He looked back to Lillian, she just smiled to herself.

"Well, a certain someone told me it's better to know at the same time to enjoy life to the fullest." She said, scratching her cheek. "You see, I…no, never mind. Forget I said anything." She shook her head and followed Emil and Marta.

Tenebrae watched her as she went, his eyes lowered for a moment until he reluctantly followed the others towards the direction of Luin.

**-x-**

**A/N: Not my best work but I'm trying my best! Yes, I'm done with chapter Seven! The whole dialogue was really long and I was like "Ugh get back to Luin already and leave for Asgaaard, God!" Almost chapter ten and hopefully they're already at Asgard during then. Stupid lengthy writing. Ugh.**

**Well then, I hope you'll review!**

**Next chapter: Poor Luin, destroyed yet again. Will it ever get a break? Apparently not since we need a village to be destroyed to start our plot.**


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